Remnant's Freelancers
by Stinger909XL
Summary: When a certain group of armour wearing soldiers end up in a snowy wood on Remnant, they establish a small life in a small town. But trouble isn't far behind them, as a bounty-hunter and a power-hungry beast appear soon after them.
1. Chapter 1: Arrival

**Remnant's Freelancers:**

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><p>Alpha Team burst through the doorway, with Agent Carolina at the head. She raised her hand, showing flurry of hand signals. "Sync?" Her voice sounded over the comms. The rest of the squad nodded their heads, replying "Sync" through the comms chatter. "Good. Now, move people!" She shouted and unholstered her sidearm, a M6H 'Magnum' Sidearm. York was busy at a second door, slowly hacking the holographic lock.<p>

"Man, these guys and their fancy holographic locks. This is what, the fifth time I've had to get past one of these." York stated blandly while configuring the lock.

"And you've yet to succeed York. Just get on with it." South criticised him, scowling from inside her helmet, which caused a small chuckle to come from her brother, North. That then irritated her even further, so she just pointed her dual M7 Submachine Guns at the locked door.

"And I've... Got it." York told his teammates, pride evident in his voice. "We're good to go guys." Carolina crept over to door, opening it slowly, revealing a large group of Insurrectionist soldiers.

"Uh... This has to be the wor... Hey!" Wash shouted at soldier, who had began to shoot. "Worst room ever!" He then unslung his BR55 Battle Rifle and began firing at the other soldiers with his fellow agents. Suddenly, a dome appears between the opposing sides.

"Good job Theta. Alright guys, on my mark we make our way back from the door and behind the wall!" North told the squad, causing their heads to nod. "Mark!" The shield dissolved instantaneously and the Freelancers flew to wall.

"Hey assholes! Come on out, we have you surrounded." A voice rang through the building. York looked at Carolina, a look of worry hidden behind his helmet. "You have one chance to surrender! Do it now, or there will be _dire_ consequences." The Insurrectionist leader stated, confidence creeping into his voice. "Ah well. It's your funeral!" He shouted, and then high pitched whistling could be heard faintly.

"Oh son of a bi..." Wash managed to say before the building erupted. The world turned orange, but slowly turned black.

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><p>Wash looked around as he found his footing. And he saw, trees and snow? He then saw a tan armored hand reaching toward him, which shook his out off his daze.<p>

"Well well, looks like sleeping beauty has finally awoken." Carolina joked as he took York's hand. He gave her a cold stare as he reached for his helmet and his battle rifle. And, just as suddenly as the dome, a small green hologram appeared.

"Agent Washington, I have anaylsed that Agent Carolina has a 98% of winning, should you engage in a fight." Delta stated calmly, causing Wash to grumble. York took a glance at North, who was holding his helmet under his arm.

"What're you doing?" York questioned North. North's head turned as he heard his close friend. He gives off a 'hmm' and just looks around again. "I said, what are you doing?" York asked him again.

"Where are we?" North's AI, Theta, asked him. The hologram was riding a skateboard with fireworks shooting up around him. York then thought for a few seconds before consulting his AI, Delta.

"Delta has no idea. We could be anywhere Theta." York replies dully. "Anyways, what're you doing North?" He asks, once again.

"I'm just wondering, _how_ did we get here? We don't know where we are, but we also don't know how we got here?" North answered, still looking into the distance. As York looks at the same place, to his surprise, a rose petal slowly floated to the ground. They draw their weapons, York's being a M90 Shotgun and North's a SRS99 Sniper Rifle.

"I don't think we're alone out here North. Get in touch with Carolina, I'll stay here." York spoke to the other Agent. North nodded with his agreement and ran off in the other direction, while he pulled his helmet over his uncovered head.

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><p><strong>Chapter 1 of my first story is now complete. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! <strong>


	2. Chapter 2: Meeting

**Remnant's Freelancers:**

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><p>Ruby stood at the grave, tending to the weeds that had grown on and around it. The roses she had planted a few days ago had started to grow, the bulbs slightly sticking out of the snow.<p>

"Hey, did you know? Me and Yang are Huntresses now, and we're on the same team. But we really miss you, and Dad's been opening up more." She spoke to grave, smiling weakly while doing so. Her hair and cloak blew in the wind, rose petal appearing and floating away in the wind. A deep bark rumbled through the woodland, making Ruby step back from the grave. "I've got to go now. Goodbye." She told her grave sadly. As she headed away she unfolded Crescent Rose, a smile creeping onto her face. There was only one type of Grimm in the woodland, and it was a different variant than the usual. They were Beowolves, but they were unarmored due to little-to-no human contact of the years. This just made it even easier for her 'sweetheart' to cut them down. She could hear the Beowolves getting closer and closer with every passing second. She readied her overly-large sniper-scythe, setting the blade into the ground with one precise swing. Suddenly, the Beowolves erupted from the forest, a few hundred of them. A large grin swept it's way onto her face as she fired at the Grimm, killing or injuring most of them, delaying their inevitable charge. The remainders of the group let out a large shriek, charging faster to her. She then swept Crescent Rose at the charging Beowolves, killing the remaining few. She grinned at her easy kills, but the smile faded when she realised she had received a large gash in her leg. Her hand rushed to stop the bleeding, but she then remembered that her Aura could take care of the wound. "It'll heal Ruby. Slowly, but it will heal." She reassured herself, and limped of into the forest.

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><p>York readied his M90, facing the way the petal had come from. He soon heard a low growl coming from the general direction. He pumped the shotgun, ready to fire at anything that came from that direction. Suddenly, many more growls erupted through the area. "Oh crap!" York shouted as he turned to run, only to hit a mound of black fur. "What the?" He exclaimed as he got up and he straightened his helmet. But he then shrunk back when he saw what the fur was. A huge, wolf-like creature with blood red, razor-sharp teeth. He gulped as he jumped back, just being missed by a swinging paw.<p>

_"York! York! This is Carolina, where are you? York!" _Carolina worriedly spoke over the comms. _"North says we're almost at your position. Hang on" _York looked at his attacker, pointing his M90 at the beast and fired. It hit it square in the chest, and it fell to ground. It body began to dissolve, creating a horrid stench.

"Ugh. What was that D?" York asked Delta, walking back to where the other Freelancers were. His AI appeared, blinking in and out of his holographic existence. He blinked once more before speaking up

"I do not know what that was, Agent York. This is a very strange place, everything here is different from my files." Delta replied as they walked back, as emotionlessly as ever. "Oh, there they are." Delta spoke again, pointing out that they had found the other agents.

"York!" Carolina exclaimed, running to him. The rest of the Freelancer Agents walked over to him. "What happened?" She asked him and stared. He looked back the way he had came

"There was... How should I put this, a monster." York said, causing the rest of the Freelancers to look at him strangely. "What? I'm not crazy, I'm completely serious." He told them, while they still gave him looks of curiosity. " Oh OK, you want proof. How 'bout I show." York stated, walking away. "Oh and by the way. Even Delta had no idea what the thing was. So yeah."

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><p>Ruby looked at the strange people, she'd been walking through the forest when she had heard a woman's voice shout 'York!'. When she had seen where the voice had come from, she was surprised at what she saw. There was five people in unique armors, completely different to anything she had ever seen. Two were in purple with green trims, one was in aqua, another in tan with silver-white trims and the final in black with yellow trims. They wore full body armor and helmets with golden visors. They had strange fighting styles, the one in tan already taking down a Beowolf with his weapon.<p>

"Why didn't he change into melee form?" She asked herself, pondering over the thought. The aqua one then told them to move out, and they headed away from her. _'They're going to find her grave!' _Ruby screamed in her head. She ran after them, using her speed semblance to go even faster. _'No no no! They can't find it.' _She thought to herself. She emerged from the forest, waiting for them to reach the edge as well. Her hand slowly crept to Crescent Rose instinctively, but she held back.

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><p>"Oh! I see the edge of the forest! Come on!" She heard one of them shout, and then the one in black exited the woodland. She stood still, a good fifteen metres in front of him. "Uh... Guys! We have... Company?" He said, looking back at where he came from.<p>

"Who is it Wash... Oh hey there." The aqua colored one spoke to her soothingly. "Do... Do you know who we are?" She asks Ruby, calmly walking closer to her. Ruby jumped back, and drew Crescent Rose in gun form. This then caused the aqua woman to draw her weapon, a pistol, and point it at Ruby.

"Hey girl look, we outnumber you, so give it up" The one in lighter purple, another female, spoke to Ruby threateningly, causing the one in darker purple armor to stare at her.

"South, there's no need to be rude. I'm sorry about her, she's a little... Unkind, when we meet new people" The other purple spoke up. He placed his weapon of the ground, signalling he wouldn't do anything to hurt her. Ruby resheathed Crescent Rose. "See, we won't hurt you. Come on guys, put 'em on the floor." He told his friends, and they then put away their weapons as well. "What's your name? I'm North." North informed her.

"Ruby..." She said quietly and looked down, poking her fingers together.

"Do you know who we are?" The aqua one demanded from Ruby. Ruby then shook her head vigorously. "Well then, I'm Carolina. That's Wash." She pointed to the black one. "That, is York." She then pointed to the tan soldier. "And finally, that one is South" She told her, and pointed at the light purple-armor wearing soldier.

"So, why are you here?" Wash questioned her, walking closer to Ruby. He took of his helmet, revealing a man with blonde hair.

"Uh... N-n-no reason." She stammered, trying to hide the grave a few feet behind her. Unexpectedly, a green hologram appeared next to York's head.

"Agent Washington, I have analysed that she is lying and covering up the truth." The voice of the hologram told Wash as he walked away with the others.

"Yeah yeah, thanks D. I'm sure she doesn't want to talk about it." York told the hologram. "Log off, OK."

"Logging off." The hologram complied, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared. York walked over to Ruby, putting a armored hand on her shoulder.

"Look, I'm sure you don't want to talk about it. So don't." He spoke to Ruby, as the other agents headed off. "Hey guys, wait up!" He called out to them. Ruby just stared at the soldiers, who were walking back into the forest.

"Uh... Hey, do... Do you know where we are?" Wash said as he faced her once again.

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><p><strong>That's another chapter done. Wow it takes some time. Anyways, review or PM to tell me what you want to happen, and maybe it will, you never know till it does.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3: It isn't a Pleasure

**Remnant's Freelancers:**

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><p>Jaune looked up at the statues at the front of Beacon, one of which was his great-great-grandfather who had fought in The War. He unsheathed the same sword which had been used by his familiy in The War, Crocea Mors. It had no transformations except his shield which changed into the sword's sheathe, no special dust holder. It was just a plain ol' sword. He kept being told by his friends that it didn't matter about the weapon, it only matters who wields it. He trusted their statement, hoping that if he thought better, he would be able to defeat stronger enemies. But it had been one month since he had last been told that, but he had been improving, being the sixth best hunter in the year, and out of both hunters and huntresses, he was eighth.<p>

"Oh. Hi Jaune." Ruby's suddenly appeared. Jaune crashed to floor, snapping out of his daze. With her hand extended out to him, her grabbed it and got to his feet.

"Hey Ruby." He said quietly, again looking at the statues. "Wait a minute, where were you Ruby? We were all looking for you." Jaune quizzed Ruby, an inquisitive look on his face. Her face instantaneously fell, and she looked away.

"I... I don't wanna talk about, OK." She told Jaune, still looking at the floor. "Anyway, how was your day, Jaune?" She questioned him, her energy reappearing.

"Uh... Now I don't want to talk about it." Jaune told Ruby. "Do you think we should head back to our dorms. It's getting late." He said to her, looking past the statues to the entrance.

"Yeah! We should! I have to go talk to Yang!" She exclaimed, running ahead. Jaune just sighed, and ran to catch up with her.

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><p>As Ruby entered her team dorm, Weiss began to shout. "Where were you Ruby!" She shouted at her team leader. "We were looking for you <em>all day<em>!" She told her angrily, practically fuming. Ruby shrank back in fear, while Yang appeared between the two.

"Calm down Weiss." Yang soothed Weiss. "Look, I don't think Ruby really wants to talk about it with us. So just... Just leave her alone for a minute." Yang told her, escorting her away from Ruby, while Blake was sat down on her bed reading. Blake had broken out of her shell recently, no longer wearing her bow when she was in the dorm due to her team knowing about her faunus heritage, but still almost completely silent.

"So Blaaaake, what're you reading?" Ruby asked her teammate, slaming herself next to her. Blake just stared at Ruby, with a look saying _'Wow, really?'_.

"The same book as yesterday Ruby, why do you ask?" Blake told Ruby bluntly. She looked silently back at her book, her eyes narrowed. Ruby gave her a pleading look, which broke through Blake's mental defenses. "It's called _'Prodigy'_, just like it was called yesterday when you asked me Ruby." She stated, still not having taken a eye off of her book. Ruby got up off of Blake's bed and ran to her own, slamming down on it harder than before. Suddenly, a large cracking sound erupted in the dorm. Ruby's eyes widened as she realised what had happened. "Oh great..." Blake muttered.

"Oh no! Weiss is gonna kill me!" Ruby shouted, the fear in her voice evident. Blake just shook her head in disappointment.

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><p>Yang burst into the room, dragging Weiss by the collar, exploding into laughter when she saw what was going on in their dorm room. Ruby was stuck in a hole in her bed, her legs and torso sticking out, flailing around. Weiss instantly ran over to her.<p>

"What happened?" She demanded, her finger pointing at Ruby in accusation. Ruby just looked at Weiss with wide, fearful eyes. Blake, again, shook her head in dismay. "Ruby! What? Happened?" Weiss exclaimed angrily, still standing over Ruby. Ruby gulped at tried to move away, only to find it impossible. "Ruby! I said! What happened!"

"I-I-It... It was an accident?" Ruby said, as if she was questioning her own words. Ruby looked over at Blake, who was, still, calmly reading. "Look, I'm really really sorry Weiss. I didn't mean too, it really was an accident, and I was bored and Blake wasn't talking to me, so I jumped on my-" Ruby said continuously, only to be abruptly stopped by a hand covering her mouth.

"Ruby, shut up. You're rambling on about it." Yang said jokingly, still holding her hand over her sister's mouth. Ruby had begun clawing and biting at her hand, causing Yang to snatch it back.

"Ruby, why do _that_? That's just... Just childish." Weiss scolded her, pointing again at Ruby. Ruby's face held a look of mock sadness as she walked back to her bed, laying on it gently. She looked at the bunk above her, getting ready to sleep.

"Good night guys." Ruby murmured to her friends.

"Good night Ruby" They all responded, and Ruby fell into a deep sleep.

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><p>The Freelancers exited the forest from the direction the girl, Ruby, had told them to. Although South had disagreed with North's way of thinking, the being nice toward her, it had worked out. She had told them the way out, while South hadn't shot her dead the very second they left. South had been grumbling most of the way back, saying things such as <em>'Stupid little girl' <em>and _'I wish I could've done something' _and many insults to top it off. They seemed to have found a somewhat-abandoned building, but they had found a 'slight' problem.

"Hey York, come over here and take a look at this." Carolina called out to York, who quickly sprinted over to her. She pointed at a locked door, with no visible lock.

"Huh? It's locked... But there's no way for it to unlock?" York said, obviously confused by the door. "You can give me two minutes." He told her proudly, and waved Carolina away. "Now, my little lock, time to find a way for you to open up and reveal the secrets behind the door." York muttered quietly to himself, looking curiously at the door. Then, it suddenly swang open, sending a confused look to York's face.

"Great it's open, come on guys. Let's go." Carolina told them, and they ran into the building. York mentally called up his AI, Delta.

"Hey D, did you do that?" York asked the holographic image floating next to him, causing the AI to shake it's 'head'.

"No Agent York, I did not unlock the door." Delta notified his bearer, and York looked around slowly, rotating until he had seen the entire room.

"Well then, I don't want to know who did." York told his AI fragment, and ran to catch up with the others. A few minutes later, when he had caught back up to them, he saw the squad not moving, weapons drawn rather than holstered. "Hey guys, what're... What're ya' doin'?" He asked them over the comms system, only to receive several '_shush'_ noises back. He instinctively pulled out his M90 and went into a firing position. Then, many growling noises were beginning to draw closer and closer, to the point where York could see a set of blood red teeth. He fired his M90 at the strange animal, not dissimilar to the one he had seen earlier in the day. He heard the other Freelancers behind him firing their weapons, he turned to see a large group of the beasts attacking them. One finally pinned Wash to the ground, only to be hit over the head by the stock of North's SRS99, and then be repeatedly shot by one of South's M7 Submachine Gun.

"What in the world are these things!" Wash shouted at York while felling two with his BR55 Battle Rifle. York just looked back at him and began running toward the rest of his squad, three of the animals in tow.

"Wash! Nail them now! Please!" York told his friend, still running toward the other Freelancers. Wash aimed at one of the beasts following York and fired, with York ducking, he swung his Battle Rifle to hit all three of the beasts in one burst. "Great, now on my mark, be ready to catch!" York ordered Wash once again, and Wash looked at him in confusion. "OK!" Now, mark!" York shouted over the screams of gunfire and threw his M90 to Wash. Wash's eyes widened under his helmet, but he reached for the shotgun, knowing it would help. He then turned around and began firing the M90 at the animals, mowing them down with each shot.

"Alright guys, lets move to the next floor, we're clearing out every single one of these things." Carolina told them, pointing at a staircase to their left. "You got it. Good, now let's move people!" She ordered them, and they headed to the staircase.

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><p>After the Freelancers had cleared out three of the five floors in the building, they began to slow down. South had been badly injured while the had been on the second floor and North was helping her across the room, only stopping to fight the strange creatures.<p>

"Carolina, I think we should stop, we need to get South help." Wash told her as she headed for the next floor, only to be returned with a glare. York stepped out of the shadows.

"He's right Carolina, we should. Come on, let's get to a city or at least a village to get her some medical attention." York said to her convincingly. Carolina nodded her head slowly, and headed back down to North and South.

"OK, we've made a decision... And we're not going to continue clearing the building. Come guys, let's go." She said depressedly, and she jogged back to the downwards staircase, stopping to look back at her teammates, now low on ammo and moral. She beckoned them to follow, and they headed after her.

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><p>Ruby looked around the room, she had woken after dreaming about those strange people she had met. She had remembered their names; Carolina, Wash, York, North, and South. They had had very strange weapons, the exact opposite of Jaune's Crocea Mors, which was only melee, their weapons were only ranged a part from hitting things with the stocks of their guns. They had wore strange armor too, it was full-body armor including helmets of designs she had never seen before. She knew they were different in a way she couldn't tell, it was like they didn't belong. But, she coudn't tell why she had got that feeling around them. Two had been kind to her, while another two had been demanding and the last one had been, as Weiss would say,<em> 'extremely rude'<em> to her. She wanted to tell the others about it, but she wouldn't, she would keep it to herself until she had to tell at least one person.

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><p><strong>Chapter Three is now complete. It is a longer chapter, so it came out a little later than I wanted, but oh well, you can't have everything can you?<br>**


	4. Chapter 4: The 'Heroes' of Bluelyn

**Remnant's Freelancers:**

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><p>The Freelancers found a small town going by the name of Bluelyn, it had a small hospital run by the citizens. Many of them had been captivated by their strange armor and weaponry. When they had reached the singular townwide hospital, they were shocked by the amount of people in the medical ward. It was chock full with people, with only a few spaces left in the room, they had to grab a second bed for South to lay on while she was in her armor. They had asked her to take off her armor but she had refused, resulting in her almost being kicked out.<p>

"South, why are you _always_ so rude. You were rude to the girl, and rude about her as well, and you're rude to the doctors now too.!" Wash exlaimed while talking to South, causing her to look at him and scowl.

"Hey, they asked me to take off my armor. No way, no way in hell would I take off my armor." She spoke back to him, carrying her helmet with her under her arm. The other three Freelancers looked at the two.

"Jesus, what are you? Married?" York joked with them, just causing both of the two to glare at him, and he put his hands up in mock surrender. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Christ, didn't realise that would hit a nerve." York started with a shout, then a whisper to North.

"Yeah, what do you expect. One of them is South, my sister and the least kindest person here. And the other is Wash, the... How should I put this... The whiniest person here." North whisper back to him.

"Hey! I heard that!" Wash shouted at them, glaring at them through his golden visor.

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><p>As they were walking through an alleyway in Bluelyn, a violent scream erupted. It rung through the thin, echo-inducing alleyway, causing many people to cover their ears and some to fall onto their knees.<p>

"What was that?" Wash asked the other Freelancer agents, and York gave him a sarcastic look.

"Well, it couldn't have been a scream, of course not. That just wouldn't make _an__y _sense." He said jokingly, unslinging his M90. Wash just gave hime an angry glare while he unslung his own BR55.

"Agent Carolina, I have pinpointed the area the sound came from and have sent it to all of your team's HUD's. Hope this helps you." Delta popped up next to York's head, talking to Carolina.

"Thank you Delta. OK, you heard him, follow the marker to the position and get ready for a tactical approach" Carolina told the others, and signaled for them to move out. "OK, as you can see, the area is fifty metres North-East of our position. So, when at least one of you has your HUD showing the target are to be three metres away, call us over to you and we'll prepare to fight." Carolina ordered the Freelancers, and they headed out.

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><p><em>"Last night in Bluelyn Town, a young girl at the age of eleven years old was kidnapped from her home in South-Eastern Bluelyn. It looked like all hope was lost until the strange soldiers that had turned up that very morning found where she was being held, incapacitating her holders, who were armed, and rescuing the girl. They refused to talk to any news reporters and didn't give any reason on why they would locate and save a random girl. This was Ernestine Figueroa reporting live from Bluelyn." <em>The news report ended with the girls flabbergasted, only Ruby knew who they were. It had showed pictures of the people she had met the day before in the forest, they had managed to find and save a captive girl from a multitude of armed men.

"Wow, that's amazing. They just found her, with no problems at all." Yang said, obviously impressed by their actions. Ruby just nodded at Yang's statements, eyes wide.

"What's the matter Ruby? You look pale?" Weiss asked in a concerned tone. Ruby shook her head violently and smiled at her innocently.

"I'm fine Weiss, don't worry about me." Ruby comforted her, sitting down her own bed. "Anyway, don't we have to go to classes soon?" Ruby asked her teammates.

"No Ruby, we don't. It's Saturday remember." Blake reminded her, which suddenly booted Ruby's energy.

"Oh oh! We could go to Vale. No! We can go to Bluelyn, it's not far. It's only like... Five or ten miles." Ruby said, bouncing up and down around the room.

"What's got you so up. You want to see the heroes of Bluelyn?" Yang asked her sister, a curious look in her eyes. Then, Ruby nodded gently, a huge smile on her face.

"And we could take Weiss' car! Can we Weiss? Can we?" Ruby begged her partner, hanging onto her shoulders.

"Maybe we could. It would be good team building time. Yeah, we can." Weiss told her leader, pulling out the keys. Yang went to grab them, her eyes looking straight at them. "But... _I _am driving. Not you Yang." Weiss snarled at Yang, causing Yang to keel backwards.

"Aaaaaawww..." Yang said sadly, still eyeing up the keys. "OK princess. But, I call shotgun!" Yang said jokingly and sprinted out the room. Weiss shook her head as Yang headed slowly back in.

"Gotta get out this sleepwear first though." Yang said slowly, laughing as she did so.

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><p>When they headed to their Beacon-provided Team RWBY garage they ran to Weiss' custom, four-seated, white sports <em>'vehicle', <em>as she called it. Weiss clicked in on the keys, and the car made the familiar unlock sound and Yang sprinted full speed to the passenger side, Blake and Ruby slowly went to the back two seats, while Weiss headed calmly to the driver's seat, and started the engine.

"Oooh... Listen to it purr. Just like Blake should." Yang said, joking with Blake, but Blake just sent Yang an icy glare. Yang recoiled, mock shock written onto her face. This sent Ruby into fits of laughter, and Weiss started to head out of the garage.

"OK, I'm going to set some... Car rules. Yang, no firing your gauntlets out of the windows." Yang gave her a look of sadness, but complied as she unreadied Ember Celica. "Ruby, no eating cookies. I don't want any crumbs in this car, it's new." Ruby gave her a look of anger, but just put a cookie in a bag.

"Come Snow Angel. You know that you could buy three more of these." Yang said jokingly, poking Weiss' shoulder, which caused the car to swerve violently.

"Yang! You almost made us crash you dolt!" Weiss shouted at her, without taking her eyes off of the road. "Do you _want _us to _die_?" Weiss said, having calmed down more in the few seconds she had stopped shouting at Yang.

"I'm sorry princess. Really, I am." Yang told Weiss, her face holding a look of seriousness. "Anyway, we're gonna go to Bluelyn!" She said, her original mood returning instantly.

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><p>Wash looked at York, who was talking to Delta, North and Theta. He looked at the floor, and a blue hologram appeared next to him.<p>

"Hey, Wash. I'm sorry I cause you so much grief. With you know... Not wanting to talk to anyone but well... You really." The AI told Wash, but Wash shook his head sadly.

"You just need to break out of your shell Epsilon. Because, if you don't. You could end up like me. Log off Epsilon." Wash told his AI fragment, and looked back at his friends.

"You sure, I could stay online with you, you know?" Epsilon clarified, but Wash just shook his head again.

"No Epsilon I'm sure. Log off." Wash ordered his AI. The hologram disappeared, leaving nothing but silence in it's place. Wash walked over to the other two Freelancers. "Hey, what's goin' on?" He asked them, and North looked at him.

"We were just talking about South and Carolina." North briefed Wash, and pointed at the final two Freelancer agents. "You know, about how they think we shouldn't get a house here and make it our base of operations."

"Why were you talking about that?" Wash asked them, and Delta appeared.

"They were talking about this because they overheard Agent Carolina and Agent South talking about where our base of operations should be. But they talked about it being in a bigger city, rather than here. However North and York think it sho-" Delta told Wash, but was interrupted halfway through his sentence.

"Yeah yeah D. Look, I'm sure Wash understands it now, you can just... You know, just hide yourself, but not log off." York told his AI program. The hologram disappeared and left the three talking to each other. That was until a aqua colored tint could be seen in each of their visors.

"Come ladies, let's move. We're gonna find two houses." Carolina ordered them.

* * *

><p>When Team RWBY reached Bluelyn, they found a nice, modern town with some older-fashion areas such as Old West Bluelyn or The Bluelyn Mansion. Ruby looked around in awe, looking at all the weapons shops and forge-houses spread all around the town. Then, Ruby caught a glimpse of someone in a set of tan-colored armor.<p>

"Hey guys! Did you see that? I think I saw Yo... One of them." Ruby told her teammates, but Yang had a confused look on her face.

"What is it Yang?" Blake asked her partner worridly. "Are you OK?" She asked Yang again, still receiving no answer from Yang.

"What was Ruby gonna say before she hesitated and said _'One of them' ._" Yang asked Blake, still confused. Blake looked back at Ruby who was running to where she had seen the strange soldier.

"Come on Yang! I think they're over here!" Ruby shouted to her sister, waving at her. Yang shook her head, and followed her younger sister to the house. She was surprised when she saw Ruby sitting sadly on a bench.

"Ruby? What happened?" Yang asked her, her voice filled with worry. Ruby looked up to her, her face red.

"They left..." She told Yang, her lips quivering. "They left before I could say hello." She said sadly, and Weiss sat down next to her.

"It's OK Ruby, there can be a next time." Weiss comforts her, her arm around her shoulders, holding her tight. Ruby opens her arms to Yang and Blake and they join the hug.

"So, is this the first official Team RWBY group hug?" Yang asked her teammates, smiling. This caused the final three members of Team RWBY to laugh and smile along with her.

* * *

><p>York looked out from the shadows that the roof cast at the Ruby girl and <em>some<em> her friends. He could tell that Ruby had come to see them, but he wanted to keep the amount of people who want to see them as small as possible.

_"York. Come in York. Report back to the spot immediately, we're done."_ Carolina's voice told him over the comms system.

"Sir, yes sir Carolina." York joked, and the system went silent. "Wow... Grouchy huh." York spoke to himself. "Hey D, how far to the designated area to meet up with the others?" York asked his AI fragment.

"There is precisely five hundred and seventy four metres until the location Agent York." The AI notified the Freelancer. It took York one and a half minutes to reach the location while jogging, and all of them but Wash were already there.

"Hey, where's Wash?" North asked the other agents, looking around.

_"Hey guys. You got red cape heading your direction. The one from the forest. Wash out." _He said over the comms system.

"Oh look! There they are!" Ruby shouted with glee and ran straight over to the Freelancers.

"Uh... Hey Ruby, what're... What're you doin' here?" York asked nonchalantly, his hands by his sides.

"We were here to see you! You saved a random girl for absolutely no reason. That's an amazing quality in a person, selflessness." Ruby's three friends were looking very confused in the background, exchanging looks with each other.

"Ruby? Do you... Know these people?" The blonde one asked her and Ruby turned her head.

"Of course I do Yang, that's why I wanted to come here. I wasn't gonna tell anyone, that was until I saw them on the news. Then I wanted to come here as soon as possible." Ruby told the blonde girl, Yang.

"And you trust them?" The black haired girl asked curiously. Ruby just looked and her and smiled.

"Have a little faith Blake. Of course we can trust them!" Ruby exclaimed excitedly, reminding them that she was still there.

"You can trust us. Or at least most of us." North said while looking at South.

"Well we better get going. We've got to get back to Beacon." The white haired girl said bluntly and they walked away from the Freelancer agents.

"Yeah goodbye... And good riddance." South muttered. The Freelancers headed to two opposite houses.

"One is a three room for you three, York, Wash and North. And the other is a two room for me and South." Carolina told them, they nodded and headed for their respective houses.

* * *

><p><strong>Wow! Two chapters that are around 2000 words each in one day. I hope I did a good job.<strong>


	5. Chapter 5: It's pronounced, EMP!

**Remnant's Freelancers:**

* * *

><p>Ruby looked out of the passenger-side window, having taken the passenger seat for the way back to Vale, and when they would make their way to Beacon. Weiss' sports car, which she had fondly named <em>'Fleur Blanche'<em>, flew towards Beacon. The private Schnee Dust Company road which they sped down, had been made to go from Vale to Beacon, but only certain people were allowed through the gate. They reached Beacon around half an hour later, with Yang sleeping in the back due to the time being 23:12. Ruby ran to the back of the car and shook Yang awake, jumping back from a sluggish punch from her fiery sister. Yang rubbed her eyes as she slowly got out of the car, walking groggily towards the garage's exit. Ruby looked at her tired sister, smiling to herself as she jogged to their team dorm and not noticing the now slumped over Yang had fallen asleep again, leaning on the wall. When Weiss and Blake stopped talking about their meeting at the car, they too headed to the dorm. Now having noticed Yang, who was still slumped against the wall, they carried her back to the Team RWBY dorm.

* * *

><p>North, Wash and York looked around their new home, it was a spacious house with three bedrooms each with their own bathroom. They looked at each other, smiling at their fortune.<p>

"Just like before Project Freelancer huh?" York asked his good friends, grinning at them mischieviously. North nodded slowly, but Wash just stood silently. He looked at the floor with a sad look in his eyes. "Uh... Wash? You OK buddy?" He was questioned by York, York with a curious look in his eye. Wash felt a hand rest on his shoulder, and he shook it off.

"I'm fine York. It's just... There was someone who wouldn't talk to anyone else before Project Freelancer. It just reminded of him." Wash lied to him, putting on a smile. North looked at him suspiciously as York headed to his room.

"OK, what ever you want us to believe." North told Wash, and he walked to the house's door slowly. Wash sat on the floor, his head in his hands. Epsilon's blue holographic image appeared next to him.

"You were talking about yourself, weren't you Wash?" The AI asked him, curious. Wash just looked at the final bedroom.

"No... Not just me Epsilon... Not just me." Wash told the memory fragment as it disappeared, and he started toward the final room.

* * *

><p>Carolina and South entered their house, and South threw her arms out wide. She ran around the spacious, beast-lacking room like it was Heaven.<p>

"Ah yes... A place to stay, rather than lying down in the wilderness every night." South told Carolina, causing Carolina to give a rare, short laugh.

"Calm down South, it's not that good." A voice sounded from the doorway and North entered the house, causing South to stop running. "Anyway, I could have done that _way_ faster." North said jokingly, laughing at her.

"Oh, _you are on_!" South told her brother, pointing at him. They ran around after each other, until a short cough interrupted them.

"Look you two, we need our sleep. So North, it would be nice if you left." Carolina ordered the two siblings, and North gave her a mock salute and left the room in a hurry. Carolina shook her head and headed to her room, waving South goodnight.

* * *

><p>York yawned as he awoke and stretched out his arms. The hologram of Delta suddenly appeared in front of him.<p>

"Agent York, you are late. All the others woke up at least twenty minutes ago." Delta informed him. York's eyes widened at the thought of the others waiting for him for a entire twenty minutes.

"D... When did Carolina wake up?" York worridly asked his AI fragment. Delta blinked a few times, processing the question and finding the answer.

"Agent Carolina has been awake for thirty five minutes." The AI told York, and York rushed out of the bedroom. The others looked at him, Carolina with an annoyed look in her eyes.

"Finally, he has awoken from his so-called eternal slumber." Wash joked, receiving a glare from Carolina and a few laughs from the other three.

"This is no time for jokes Wash. Last night it was eight more kidnappings were reported, and those are the ones with traceable pathes. And there's one too many for us to handle. So, the plan will be each of us will take an individual target first, and when we have finished up at that, you wait for my signal to get the next." Carolina told the Freelancers. "Delta, bring up the locations." She told the green AI.

"Yes Agent Carolina. There were eleven children that were found missing last night by the Bluelyn Police Force. But, only eight had an identifiable track to show where the child had been taken. I have analysed the information and found that they are being held in different houses along a road not too far from here. The locations for each of your targets and the extra are now up on your HUDs. Good luck." The AI informed the agents, and disappeared. All the Freelancers, a part from Carolina, looked at each other.

"OK, you heard him. Get to your targets now people!" Carolina ordered them, and they headed out of the house, their weapons drawn and at the ready.

* * *

><p>Jaune stretched out as he awoke from his sleep and rubbed his eyes. He looked around for his teammates, only to find the room empty. A shout came from outside, and he instantly scrambled to his feet. He grabbed Crocea Mors and changed the sheath into a shield. He was already in his battlegear because he had ripped the one-piece sleepsuit he had came with. He was, however, not wearing his chestpiece, so he grabbed that off the side as well and headed out of the room. He lowered his weapon as he saw Ruby and Yang standing outside of their dorm.<p>

"You're sorry! We had no idea where you were! We thought you had been kidnapped, like all of those children in Bluelyn!" Yang shouted at her younger sister, who was recoiling back from her sister. "I just... I don't want to lose you, like... Like we lost Mum." Yang said into her sister's shoulder, hugging her tight. Jaune slowly closed the door, sighing, but he heard a voice start to talk to him.

"Hey Jaune. How... How much did you hear?" Ruby asked him curiously, looking into his eyes.

"Uh... I only heard Yang's last sentence." Jaune told her, and she smile weakly at him.

"You... You heard the 'Mum' thing?" Ruby questioned him, and he nodded slowly. Her face fell, and she poked his chest. "Don't tell anyone. OK?" She ordered him, he then nodded his head vigorously and her energy suddenly returned to her. "Great, goodbye Jaune!" She shouted, and slammed the door to her dorm.

* * *

><p>Wash looked at the house, it was dimly lit and had dark walls. His BR55 aiming ahead of him, ready to fire at any moment. The house apparently held two of the kidnapped children, but was also the most heavily guarded.<p>

"Hey Epsilon, didn't Delta say this is meant to be guarded by the most and the strongest of the gang members?" Wash asked his fragment, and the AI appeared next to him.

"Yeah, D said so. But... You can't always trust him, he is just a fragment of a full AI." Epsilon said, pulling up a holographic map of the building. It was a six story, so-called-abandoned apartment complex in the South of Bluelyn. "I do have sight on a few guards, all heavily armed, they seem be standard." He said as three red dots appeared on the map. Wash headed to the staircase, aiming his Battle Rifle around the corner.

"_This is Carolina, I'm heading to the final position, if anyone else is ready head there as well. Carolina_ out." Her voice sounded through the comms. Wash sighed as he rushed up the staircase, BR55 at the ready. A deep voice sounded through the second floor.

"Hey, did you hear that The White Fang have hit even more of those Schnee Dust containers." It said, and a higher-pitched male voice spoke up.

"Yeah, what do you think it means for The Children of Onyx?" The second voice asked, getting closer to the staircase, and closer to Wash. The door opened slowly after the voices stopped and Wash ran to it, smiling under his helmet.

"I don't know, you two should think about it." Wash joked with the two soldier, their mouthes agape, before hitting their heads together. "No wonder Carolina's done already, these guys are idiots." He spoke to himself, walking out of the door calmly.

"Freeze! Put your hands... Oh God... Help! Hel-." The soldier shouted before being shot in the gut by Wash's BR55 and dropping to the floor, clutching his wound. Wash walked over and hit him in the head with the butt of his Battle Rifle. He chuckled as he entered the room. There were two children, one looking around two years older than the other. The younger one gave out a yawn and shook his head.

"My God, were they still asleep?" Epsilon asked himself, seemingly as loud as possible. Wash chuckled again as he walked over to them.

"You are _not_ good at being quite Epsilon." Wash told his AI fragment as he reached the children. "Are you two OK?" He asked them calmly, and the older girl nodded. He grabbed them both in one hand and quietly left the building.

* * *

><p>York took a quick glance at the two story family home. It had long-since-been abandoned and was now used by the gang that had been behind the kidnappings, known as The Children of Onyx. Delta popped up beside him, casting a dim green light in the shadows.<p>

"Agent York, this building is heavily guarded for a unknown reason. I recommend being careful and using stealth." The green AI informed York, and York nodded in agreement.

"Got it, thanks D." York replied to his fragment, who quickly disappeared. York then noticed a second patrol walk across the front of the house. "Hey D, can you see how long it takes for the patrols to take a full circuit of the house?" York asked his AI, who then appeared next to him, nodded and disappeared. A few minutes later, Delta reappeared.

"On average, it takes the patrols thirty one point seven four seconds to make the full circuit without random stoppages." The fragment informed him, and the Freelancer nodded in agreement. As the next patrol came around the corner, York hid quickly behind a fence panel, waiting for the patrol to pass by. He then ran to the back of the house, only to stop because of spotting two guards at the back door.

"Hey D, would ya' distract those guards for me." York ordered Delta, who then flew towards the guards. After a few seconds, York started to creep in the direction of the guards and the door. He crept through the shadows, almost completely silent. He got to the door, standing behind the two guards. "Hey guys, you should always check your six you know." York jokingly told the two, their eyes wide. He hit one of the over the head with his M90. "What's the matter, cat got your tongue?" He joked again as he punched the other in the gut. "Guess their not as chatty as the others we've met before, huh D?" He spoke to his AI as he walked into the house, but was given no response. "D? D you OK?" He asked the fragment, worried look hidden under his helmet.

"-Ag- -Ork-, -Ere- -Wa- -EM- -At- -Targ- -Ous- -My- -Ack- -Up- -A- -Bas-." Delta spoke, cutting out randomly in his sentence.

"What the... What did you say D?" York questioned the somewhat bugging-out AI. A flickering image of Delta appeared.

"-MP-, -E-P-, -EMP-" Delta spoke, still flashing in and out of existence. York cocked head and looked around the room.

"Oh great. An EMP. That is just amazing." York said, obviously annoyed with his luck. Suddenly a voice erupted from the upstairs.

"Where did she _go_? I said keep her in your sight." The voice shouted angrily, obviously talking to a guard. Then, the stairs began to creak and York's eyes widened as he realised what was happening. When they reached the bottom and touched the floor, they turned. A large grin crept onto the voice's owner's face as he unsheathed a cutlass and walked towards York, a menacing look in his eyes.

* * *

><p>Ruby sighed as she reentered her dorm. Jaune had promised not to tell anyone about what he had heard. She slowly headed over to her bunk, only to be startled by the sudden entrance by Yang from the bathroom. This caused Weiss to fall from her bunk, waking up in the process.<p>

"Ugh... What happened?" Weiss questioned them groggily. She gave Ruby a cold stare. "Ruby? Why am I on _the floor_?" Weiss asked her team leader angrily. Yang gave a small, nervous chuckle qs she headed quietly towards her bunk. Weiss' head quickly spun to face Yang. "Oh, was it _you_ Xiao Long?" She interrogated the older sister, only to receive another nervous laugh.

"Uh... I gotta go. Bye!" Yang said as she raced out of the dorm, with an even angrier Weiss following her. Weiss stopped at the dorm's door, waving her fist in anger. Ruby dragged her back into the room, and headed back to their bunk bed. Yang then slipped back into the room. All three were confronted by a angry looking Blake.

"_You! Woke me! Up!_" Blake screamed at them, drawing her Gambol Shroud and pointed at Weiss and the newly returned Yang with the tip of the blade. She let out a primal scream and jumped at them, only to be caught by Ruby. She dropped her weapon and began to barehandedly scratch and thrash Ruby's shoulders, causing the red clad girl to wince.

"Come on Blake, go back to bed now." Ruby soothed her as she carried Blake back to her bunk. Ruby then placed Blake back onto the not-so-professional lower bunk of the bunk bed. She then walked calmly back to her two remaining teammates. "Is that what being an older sister feels like Yang." Ruby joked, causing the last three members of Team RWBY to laugh quietly as they headed back to their bunks.

"Goodnight guys." Yang said as she layed down on her bed, receiving three groans in return. "Wow, rough crowd." Yang joked as she fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6: The Second Visit

**Remnant's Freelancers:**

* * *

><p>A large grin crept onto the voice's owner's face as he unsheathed a cutlass and walked towards York, a menacing look in his eyes. He brought the cutlass down at full speed, only to find it blocked by York's tan right gauntlet. York furl his hand into a fist and threw a punch, which was caught by the leader's fist, that was engulfed in a deep red light. The leader's whole body began to be covered in the same red light. York's eyes widened as his hand was pushed downwards and he was thrown backwards by the leader, who began to laugh maniacally.<p>

"What's wrong? Am I... Too strong?" The leader joked, standing over York. York growled and then began to back slowly away, reaching for his M90. "No no no... Don't be doing that." He said and York watched as the M90 was grabbed and thrown across the room.

"Hey D... You back yet?" York asked his AI who had been lost to the EMP. The leader gave York a confused look and stopped laughing.

"Who are you _talking_ to?" He asked angrily. York gave a small smile under his tan helmet.

"You'll never know." York told the leader, who's face fell. His cutlass then began to shift, and turned into a assault rifle. His eyes widened as he realised what had happened to the sword. He saw the cutlass being brought down at terrifying speed. Suddenly, a pulsating green light appeared around York. "Huh? What the?" He said, questioning what was happening. He then raised his fists and ran towards the leader. His fists suddenly became engulfed in electricity and he threw two punches in quick succession, hitting the leader in the stomach. He fell to the ground, clutching his wound, and let out a small groan. "Do you _ever _shut up?" York jokingly asked him, getting another groan in response.

* * *

><p>After the Freelancers had completed their '<em>mission<em>', they headed back to the three bedroom house and as York got back into to the house, Delta appeared next to him. York jumped back slightly surprised.

"Hello Agent York. Welcome back." Delta spoke calmly, floating next to York's head.

"Delta? I thought you were erased by the EMP?" York a questioned the green AI, walking through the door.

"I made a computer backup of myself. It was very eas-." Delta said, but was cut off mid-sentence by York.

"Yeah yeah, I get it. I don't need to be bored with the details, thanks D." York told his AI, who quickly disappeared, and Wash walked into the room. The blue hologram by his side instantly disappeared and Wash shook his head in dismay. "Hey Wash. Somethin' wrong?" York asked the other Freelancer.

"Huh? No... No, I'm fine." Wash told him, heading to his room. "I just need some rest." He said as he reached his door.

"Sorry Wash, but we have to wait for the others for the post-mission-briefing." York said, dragging Wash backtable, away from his room. Wash gave him a groan in response, and he sat down at a table.

* * *

><p>North walked through the door, entering to see York shaking Wash who was sleeping on the table. North suppressed a chuckle as he sat down next York.<p>

"When'd he get here?" North asked York, who looked up slowly.

"Wash? He got here 'bout five minutes after I did." York answer, taking his tan-colored helmet off, revealing his face and scarred left eye. "Told him that Carolina wants to talk to all of us." York informed him.

"And... Does Carolina want to see us?" North questioned him, looking at the door behind them. Carolina burst through the door, with South in tow.

"Yeah... She does..." York said, sagging his head again as she sat down at the table with the others. She slammed her hands onto the table, causing Wash to jump up from his seat.

"Wauh! Ugh... I-I-I..." Wash stuttered, causing the rest of the Freelancers to erupt into laughter. "Uh... What?" Wash asked them, which caused North and York to laugh harder. Carolina glared at him through her helmet, and he took his seat.

"Alright, how'd your mission go _W__ash_?" Carolina asked him accusingly, still glaring at him.

"It went fine, there was very little resistance and I got them both out safely." Wash told his boss, who nodded slowly. South had a confused look on her face.

"But... If you had two, why did _I _have two?" South questioned him, still looking confused. North gave Carolina a look and received a nod.

"Speak up North." Carolina told him, and he removed his helmet.

"I... I had two children in the house as well. And that brings the total up to ten, that's two more than what was reported." North said, and the others had nervous looks on their faces. "That means that we found two extra. And what _that _means is they're getting better at covering their tracks. Which, for us _and _for Bluelyn, is _not _good." North explained to the others. "_But_, it does mean they have a small selection of houses to choose from." North continued.

"Permission to speak Carolina." York asked her jokingly, and she gave him a quick nod. "When I got inside my target, the leader of the area said something about her escaping. Then... He saw me... And I discovered something... Special." He said, which put confused looks on everyone's faces. "When he attacked me, he glowed in a deep red light... And it seemed to make him stronger, as when it was around him, I couldn't overpower him. However, I could before it happened for him, and... And after it happened for me." York informed them, and they looked shocked, and Wash was shaking his head. "Oh, and... _I can show you_!" He said angrily, pointing at them.

"You're must be going insane York. You just imagined it." South told him, dismissing what he had said. He stood up in anger.

"_That's what you all thought when I told you about the monsters, but look at what we found then_!" York screamed angrily at her, causing her to shrink back in fear.

"York I-" She managed before she was interrupted by York again, who was still pointing at her.

"_Shut. Up. South_!" York told her as he headed to his room, and the pulsating light appeared again.

"Uh... York?" Wash said, pointing at his arms, which were covered once again in crackling, green bolts of electricity.

"What! Oh... See. I. _Told _. You." York said slowing, in between huffs of breath, and he fell to the floor. The last thing he saw was Carolina and the others rushing over to him, then, he passed out.

* * *

><p>Blake jumped out of her bed, looking around the room. <em>'Empty.' <em>She thought, walking to the bathroom. _'I wonder why.' _She thought angrily, stomping her way into the bathroom. She slammed the door shut and rubbed her eyes. Blake then took a quick glance in the mirror, and noticed dark bags under her eyes and sighed.

"Faunus need their sleep, a lot more sleep than humans do." Blake told herself, now staring at her reflection in the mirror. Suddenly, a young girl in a red cape appeared behind, and Blake jumped forwards. "Ruby! What are you doing here? Get out!" Blake shouted at the girl-in-red, causing Ruby's eyes to widen in shock.

"I-I'm... I didn't mean to make you angry Blake." Ruby said quietly as she left the bathroom, and Blake shook her head. _'Why did I shout at her. It wasn't her fault.' _ Blake thought to herself and she left the bathroom after she splashed her face with water. When she exited, she saw Ruby leaving the dorm, and she made her way over to her.

"Ruby... I'm sorry... I didn't have to shout at you, you're not the one who woke me up." She apologised to her team leader, her friend. Ruby's large smile returned to her face.

"Apology accepted Blake! Now come on, Yang and Weiss are waiting at the garage!" Ruby told her friend loudly and ran down the hallway. Blake smiled while shaking her head, and followed Ruby.

* * *

><p>Weiss tapped her watch as Blake and Ruby entered the garage, pointing at them accusingly. Yang gave them a huge smile as they walked up to them, but Weiss shot Ruby a cold glare.<p>

"You're late, Ruby. You're the one who suggested that we go to Bluelyn in the first place. And now, we are going for the _second _time." Weiss told her sternly as she got in the car's driving seat.

"Uh... Sorry. But it _is _your's and Yang's fault that Blake was late up." Ruby told her matter-of-factly, and Weiss moved back slightly.

"And how is it?" Weiss asked her and Ruby smiled deviously.

"Because... You shouted at Yang because she made you fall off of your bunk." Ruby stated. "That's why." Ruby said defiantly, and got in the passenger side of the car, next to a grumbling Weiss. Weiss started the engine, which roared into life. She drove it out of the Team RWBY garage and Ruby got onto her knees on her seat and turned around. "Back to Bluelyn, good ol' Bluelyn!" She shouted over the loud engine. "Banzai!" She exclaimed happily, a huge grin on her face.

"Banzai!" They other three shouted their replies. Ruby smiled and pointed ahead of them.

"Onwards!" She laughed and the remaining members of Team RWBY joined her.

* * *

><p>Weiss stepped out of the car and her shoes touched the cobble road. Ruby laughed as she jumped out of the car and ran ahead. Weiss smacked her forehead as she saw Blake slowly exited the car, following the overexcited Yang who had flown out of the car.<p>

"So... What do you wanno do?" Yang asked her team, who were looking around Old West Bluelyn.

"I wanna go se-" Ruby said, but was interrupted by Weiss.

"_Yes_ Ruby, we know. You want to see the heroes of Bluelyn again." Weiss told her as head sank and she looked at a weaponry forge and a huge smile formed on her face.

"To the forge!" She exclaimed as she sped towards it, receiving a sigh from Weiss, who followed her with Yang and Blake in tow. Ruby skidded to a halt when she reached the door of the forge, named _"Thorsten's Forge". _Ruby smiled as she opened the door and saw three open forges. " Ooh... It's an _open _forge." Ruby said, wide-eyed.

"Yes Ruby, of course it is. It says it on the sign." Weiss told her, and Ruby blushed embarrassedly and she ran to the desk.

"Excuse me, can I use one of those forges?" Ruby asked the clerk. He looked at her thoughtfully.

"Age?" He asked Ruby, still looking at her curiously, Ruby's eyes widened at the question.

"Fif-fifteen?" She told him, questioning her own answer. The clerk shook his slowly as she answered him.

"Sorry, eighteen or above miss." He told her, and her head fell sadly and she trudged slowly back to her friends.

"It's eighteen or above." Ruby told them sadly. Yang gave her one of her infamous hugs, but Weiss was nodding. "Huh? Why-why are you nodding?" Ruby asked, while gasping for breath after Yang's hug. Weiss chuckled.

"It said that on the sign too, Ruby." Weiss informed her leader, and her eyes widened as she ran outside to look at the sign. It read _"Thorsten's Forge: Open forges for over 18's". _Yang burst into laughter and Blake smiled at Ruby's agape expression. "_See_!" Weiss told Ruby, pointing at the sign and Ruby's mouth opened wider.

"Well... We've got nothing' else to do... Wanna go see them again Ruby?" Yang pointed out to her, causing Ruby's eyes to widen again.

"You wanna see them to? Great! Let's go!" Ruby shouted as she ran to Weiss' car again. "To the North of Bluelyn!" She exclaimed from the passenger seat as her teammates got into the car with her, and they drove to place they last saw them.

* * *

><p>Wash looked at York, who was laying on a hospital bed, in what seemed like a coma. A doctor walked up to him, standing next to him.<p>

"He used too much of his Aura all at once. He should wake up in a few days." The doctor told Wash, who looked back at him questioning.

"Aura? Uh... What is that?" Wash asked him, and the doctor's face had a look of surprise appear on it.

"Seriously? You... You don't know what _Aura _is?" The doctor questioned Wash, the look of shock turning to curiosity.

"Uh... Should I?" Wash answered the doctor with another question. The doctor slapped a hand to his forehead as he shook his head. "It's one of the most well known things isn't it?" Wash said, and the doctor nodded slowly. "So... What is it?" Wash asked him.

"Aura is the manifestation of our soul. It bears our burdens and shields our hearts." Wash was told, and he cocked his head.

"Uh... What?" Wash questioned what he had just heard, and the doctor sighed.

"It's kinda like a natural shield." He said to Wash. "It needs to be unlocked before it can be used." He stated, and Wash's face now held a look of extreme confusion.

"So... He unlocked his Aura, how exactly?" Wash asked the doctor, who had begun to leave the room.

"I don't know, he just did." The doctor informed him and left the room, with Wash still stood by York.

* * *

><p>Wash walked into the house, where the other three Freelancers sat around the table. They looked up at him, and he took a seat next to North.<p>

"What's the news?" Carolina asked him, her helmet on the floor next to her seat.

"The news, right! He's fine, but he'll be in a coma for the next few days. He apparently used too much Aura at once." Wash informed them, but confused looks found their ways onto their faces. "Don't get me started on that." Wash said, and Carolina shot him a glare. "OK OK! The doc said that '_Aura__ is the manifestation of our souls. It bears our burdens and shields our hearts.' _It sounded crazy at the time, but now it doesn't. So York used too much, too quickly. Now, I'm gonna go sleep." He said, and got up from his chair and headed to his room.

"What'd you think of that?" South asked the other two, North shrugged in the response and Carolina just sat their.

"You know what, I think I'm going to sleep too." Carolina said as she left the house. South looked at her twin, and gave him a wave goodbye.

"Guess I better get going to North. Bye!" She told him, and left the house.

"Aura? Huh? Theta, what York did was similar to me right?" North asked his AI fragment. His AI, Theta, appeared next to him, nodding.

"Yeah, just his was green, yours was a bluish-red, like me. And he had lightning." Theta said, still nodding head. North then nodded with him, and headed to his room.

* * *

><p>When the four members of Team RWBY returned from the second trip to Bluelyn, they had a surprised waiting for them in their team dorm room. They got to the hallway that had theirs and Team JNPR's dorms as weall as many oothers, they saw the entrance to their room open.<p>

"Ruby... Did you leave the door open?" Weiss asked her leader and received a shake of her leader's head. "How about unlocked?" Weiss asked her again, and received another head shaking. Yang took a overly-dramatic gulp as she stepped into their dorm's doorway. The remaining three walked behind her and gasped. The door wasn't open, but on the floor and blown off it's hinges. And one of the bunk beds they had bought a few weeks earlier toppled onto it's side.

"What happened!" Weiss screamed, causing Jaune to poke his head out of his team's dorm's door. His eyes widened as he saw the wreckage in Team RWBY's room. He stepped up behind them and tapped Ruby's shoulder.

"Uh... What happened?" He said, pointing at the room. Ruby twirled quickly around, her face red with anger.

"We don't know, but when we find out, the person who caused it will be in _extreme _pain!" Ruby told him, fuming with anger.

"Is... Is there any way I can help?" He asked her, and he got a small shrug as an answer. "Well then... I'll be in my room, you ladies have fun cleaning up." Jaune said as he fled to his dorm room and slowly closed the door. He looked at his team, Ren was sitting up in his bed, itching his head and Pyrrha was pacing the room. "Huh? I'd say I'm surprised Nora's still asleep, bit I'm really not." Jaune said as another high pitch scream erupted from outside.

"Yeah, so would I. But after knowing her for more than five years, you get to understand that she _can't _be forced to wake up. It's basically impossible." Ren told his two awake teammates. They exchanged glances with each other before giving him strange looks. "What, it's true." Ren stated calmly. "You could fire Magnhild next to her ear and she wouldn't wake up. Well, if you could even pick it up that is." He said, and layed back down in his bed.

"Hey Jaune?" Pyrrha asked him, he looked at her tiredly. "What were those screams about?" She said curiously.

"Huh? Oh! They were Team RWBY's. Someone did... I don't know what. But it looks like their dorm was hit by a bomb." Jaune told her as he layed down in his bed. "Wait a minute... Did Nora-" He said before he was interrupted.

"Yep!" Pyrrha told him and his eyes widened.

"And did she-" He managed before he was cut off again.

"Yep." Ren said from his own bed.

"We're screwed aren't we?" Jaune said, without being cut off again.

"Probably." Ren and Pyrrha spoke in unison, and Jaune's head sagged. He layed on his bed, looking at the ceiling, and just shuddered at the thought of being shot by Ruby, frozen by Weiss, chopped by Blake, and finally, smashed through several feet of brick by Yang.

"Great... Just great..." He whispered as he fell into a deep sleep. A small, but maniacal chuckle came from Nora's bed a good few minutes later, after they were all asleep.

"Let the prank war begin!" She said, laughing maniacally as she stared at the ceiling above her bed. "Ooh... This is gonna be fun!"

* * *

><p><strong>Ooh! This'll be the longest chapter yet. Three thousand words. I'm still in Spain, but I'll be back in England on the 4th of August. Then the chapters will be back to coming out bi-daily!<strong>


	7. Chapter 7: Libraries are for reading!

**Remnant's Freelancers:**

* * *

><p>Wash looked at York. It had been two days since he had been sent to hospital due to using too much Aura. Wash sat down next to his tan armored friend's bed, and York writhed in his sleep.<p>

"You'll be fine, right buddy? I really hope you will. We all want you back, York." Wash asked the comatose York, who was still writhing in the bed. York groaned in response, and Wash chuckled as he shook his head. "Well then. If you could just get back to us soon, that would be great. It's getting a bit boring without you." Wash told him sadly, and he walked off.

* * *

><p>Ruby looked around the room and sighed. <em>'Uh... Mondays...' <em>She thought to herself as she dragged herself out of bed and to the bathroom. She walked to the door, and tried to pull it open. She let out a groan, and walked to her chest of drawers and leant against it. "Hurry up Yang!" She shouted, and Yang answered her from the bathroom.

"How'd you know it was me?" Yang answered her with a question. Ruby smirked as she looked at Yang's unmade bed.

"Because Blake's and Weiss' beds are already made! Unlike yours, Yang!" Ruby told her older sister, and walked back to her bed. She sat on it gently, remembering what had happened when she had jumped on it. She shivered at the thought, and waited for Yang to leave the bathroom.

* * *

><p>"Hurry up Yang!" Yang heard Ruby shout from the other side of the bathroom door.<p>

"How'd you know it was me?" Yang asked her, and she remembered that she hasn't remade her bed, and groaned at her mistake.

"Because Blake's and Weiss' beds are already made! Unlike yours, Yang!" Ruby shouted her answer, and Yang sighed.

"I'll... I'll be out in a minute, OK." Yang told her energetic younger sister. Unbeknownst to Yang, Ruby sat patiently on her bed, swinging her legs in boredom. When she finally got up, she went over and shouted at the door.

"Alright Yang. I'm going to class, see you there!" Ruby told her sister angrily, and Yang heard the dorm's door slam shut. She sighed as she left the bathroom and walked out of her team's dormitory.

"Ruby! Wait up!" Yang called out to her young sister, who groaned in defeat. Ruby shook her head in mock anger and turned to face Yang.

"_Oh_, now you're out Yang. Why weren't you out a _little _earlier?" Ruby scolded and then questioned her yellow-haired sister, jabbing a finger into Yang's stomach. Yang let out a gasp of air and jumped back from her crimson-haired sister in surprise.

"Hey! You _fiend_!" Yang joked with Ruby, and both broke into laughter as they began down the hallway and turned a corner, heading to their lesson.

* * *

><p>Weiss was walking down the corridor, going to Professor Port's Grimm Studies lesson. That was, until she heard a voice shout from around the corner behind her.<p>

"Hey! You _fiend_!" Weiss heard, and Yang appeared from around the corner with their team leader, Ruby. Yang waved at Weiss and Ruby gave her a friendly smile as Yang then punched her shoulder. Weiss brought a hand to her forehead and laughed lightly.

"Did you two miss breakfast this morning?" Weiss asked her two teammates, who looked nervously at each other. They nodded and Weiss, once again, slapped her forehead, without any laughs that time. "How long did you two sleep in?" Weiss questioned them again and Ruby gave her a nervous smile.

"Uh... I may have only got up about... Uh... About five minutes ago?" Ruby told her, and she stepped backwards slightly. Weiss' face was radiating a _very_ angry look and Yang took step back, which was larger than Ruby's.

"I was still in the bathroom when she got up..." Yang said nervously, and Weiss' face turned from angry to fuming. Weiss walked up to Yang, her nose only few centimetres away from Yang's.

"Are you telling me? You only woke up around _ten minutes ago_!" Weiss screamed into Yang's face, causing Yang to lean backwards. Her eyes wide with shock, Yang opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted. "Ah ah ah!" Weiss shouted and sped over to Ruby, the same placement that she had had with Yang, she now had with Ruby. "And _you_! You weren't up until _five _minutes ago?" Weiss asked Ruby, kinder and calmer than she was to Yang before. Ruby's mouth was wide open and Yang's looked like it was ready to fall off. "Well? Were you?" Weiss asked her calmly, and she walked away, heading to class.

"Yes... Yes I was..." Ruby said sadly, her head facing the floor. Weiss didn't look back as she spoke back to her.

"OK. Now come on. We have to go to class." Weiss stated blandly and she left, leaving the sisters speechless.

* * *

><p>"Look, I'm telling you, she was <em>really <em>fast. And she had strange clones that were just like her." Sun told his long-time friend, Neptune. Neptune nodded, a notebook in one hand and a pen in the other. "Oh! _And_... She was a _faunus_!" Sun exclaimed, a little louder than needed.

"_So_... Her semblance was Shadomancy?" Neptune asked his monkey-tailed faunus-friend. Sun nodded, and flicked his staff out from underneath his jacket.

"Yeah, probably. Anyways, they go to Beacon, and I _don't_ wanna mess it up. Got it?" Sun questioned the bright-blue-haired boy, who nodded again. He looked at what he had written in his notepad, which was _'Shadomancer, Faunus, Very Fast, Quiet, Friends With Sun', _and chuckled as he put it slowly back into his pocket. "And we're gonna go see 'em right _now_. Well... After they finish the lesson that... Just started..." He sighed and sat on a bench, and Neptune plonked himself next to him.

"Well don't worry. _I'll_ be awesome when we meet them!" Neptune said jokingly and they burst into laughter. "No, seriously, it'll be fine. You just gotta wait for the _one and a half __hour _lesson to be over. Then you'll see them." The blue-hair told his friend, who sank further into the bench.

"Wait a second, why aren't Scarlet and Sage here." Sun asked Neptune, who shrugged in response. "They were supposed to be here _hours ago_. Where are they?" He continued and Neptune punched Sun's shoulder, and Sun looked up angrily.

"Woah woah woah! Easy, easy! I just meant for you to cheer up, not for you to get angry over a _teeny tiny little punch_." Neptune said, putting his hands up in a mock gesture of surrender and Sun suddenly smiled again.

"_Sorry_ man. I-I... I don't _know_ what got to me, I just got _angry_ over _nothing_." Sun said jokingly while returning the punch to his old friend.

"I knew it! A fake, you didn't snap my arm quick enough for it to be truthful anger." Neptune told the blonde monkey-faunus, who was still sat on the bench, waiting.

"You are _such _a nerd sometimes." Sun informed Neptune who glared back at him.

"Ah ah ah! Intellectual. I'm an _intellectual_." Neptune told his friend, pointing at Sun's face. Sun laughed as the finger was pulled back by Neptune. "So? What do you wanna do while we wait." Neptune asked him, and Sun looked at him.

"And now you're just being an idiot." Sun joked, only to receive and agitated look from Neptune. "Well... We could go to the Beacon Library! I heard it's a _really _good place to find _and_ play board games." Sun said, hinting at something. Neptune's face turned from a calm to an annoyed expression.

"It's for reading! Libraries are for _reading_. OK? Yes? Thank you? Your welcome." Neptune said, answering his own question, and Sun chuckled as they headed to Beacon's library.

* * *

><p>"OK students, could you please, with your partner, find a book on Ursi and another on Beowolves. When you have, find the similarities and differences between them. I expect a four page essay on my desk in two days. Begin!" Professor Port boomed over the quiet chatter of the students in the library, and the tables they were sat around were suddenly revealed, and eight of the sixty four students were left sitting down.<p>

"You're going down Sis!" Yang told Ruby jokingly, and Ruby glared back at her.

"No! You're going down!" Ruby replied in the same manner, receiving a punch from Weiss. She was then dragged away, by Weiss, from her six other friends, who were staring at what was happening. "Ow ow ow ow ow!" Ruby said quietly as she was dragged away, and the remaining six burst into laughter.

"Anyways... Come on Nora, let's go." Ren spoke up and walked off, Nora at his heels for as long as they could be seen.

"You're going down blondie!" Jaune shouted at Yang, and she burst out laughing while slapping a hand to her forehead.

"Wow, are you that crazy? You can't call someone _'Blondie', _if _you _are a blonde yourself." Yang called back to him, and his face fell as he realised his mistake.

"Um... Uh... What ever..." Jaune said quietly and he walked away from the table. Yang and Blake headed in the opposite direction. Suddenly, Sun and Neptune burst through the library entrance.

"We're here! Oh, _and _we got an added bonus. No one else is here either." Sun exclaimed as he entered the library, and Neptune just shook his head.

"Well, there _probably _is someone else here, just we can't-" Neptune said, but interrupted by Sun.

"Oh look! I see a board game." Sun told his friend, pointing at one of the tables and he ran, at top speed towards it. Suddenly, a red flash sped towards the board game.

"Oh. Hey Sun." Ruby said, appearing out of the cloak and picking up the game. Sun's eyes widened as he ran up to her.

"No wait Ruby! Can... Can we use this?" Sun said, and he pointed to Neptune, who waved from the background. Ruby though for a few seconds, and she nodded.

"Yeah sure. But I need it back later. Me and my team are gonna play it." Ruby told Sun, who nodded in return.

"OK, we were just gonna play here. So it'll be staying here anyways." Sun replied and Ruby raced back to where she had come from. Neptune walked up behind Sun and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Was that the gir-" He started, but didn't finish.

"No! That was one of her friends." Sun stated and he opened the game. It revealed a board with a map of Remnant, which Sun took out of the box. A book with the name of the game, which was _'Remnant: The Game'_, a large set of cards that were upside down, and four bags of colored pieces. All were Grimm, there was a green set, a red set, a blue set, and a gray set. Each bag was labeled, the red being labeled _'Kingdom of Vale'_, the green _'Kingdom __of Vacuo'_, the blue _'Kingdom of Mistral'_, and finally the gray _'Kingdom of Atlas'_. Sun picked Atlas, and picked out seven cards. Neptune then pulled out the blue bag, picking Mistral, and also gathering seven cards.

"OK." Neptune said, looking at the rule book. "This game is two to four players. And if you play with only two, you have to conquer... 50% of the board to win." Neptune told Sun, who smiled after he had looked at his cards.

"Yeah. I know. We _have _played this before remember." Sun stated as he placed his cards upside-down onto the table. Neptune chuckled as he realised what game it was.

"Oh! Yeah we have! This is the one we have back at our team dorm isn't it?" Neptune questioned, and Sun smacked a hand to his forehead while he shook his head slowly.

"Just shut up an' play." Sun told the blue-haired boy, who rolled two six-sided dice. He looked at the numbers, a six and a three. "OK, you got a nine, now it's my turn." Sun said and rolled his two dice. When they landed, he looked at the two numbers. Another six, and another three. "Uh... Great, now we have to roll again." Sun said angrily, and he rolled a eleven. Neptune then rolled a twelve and gave a large _'whew' _in satisfaction.

"Oh yeah! The king has arrived!" Neptune said, looking down at the dice.

"You... Are so lucky." Sun told him slowly and Neptune smirked.

"Yeah... Yeah I am." He replied and Sun looked at the floor.

"Just get on with it Neptune!" Sun exclaimed, and Neptune rolled the dice.

* * *

><p>"Hey Weiss, have you found a book on Ursi yet?" Ruby called out to her partner, who shouted back.<p>

"No! That's what I said ten seconds ago, and that's what I said five seconds ago. _And_, that is what I'll say in another ten seconds when you ask me _'have you found a book on Ursi yet'._" Weiss told her team leader, who just went back to looking for books on Ursi.

"How about now?" She asked the white-haired heiress, who scowled at her from down the line of bookshelves.

"I said! No!" She shouted, and she stormed over to the red-clad fifteen year old. She pointed at her angrily. "And. If you don't be quiet for at least five minutes, you're going to be looking on your own!" Weiss told her, fuming with anger. Ruby nodded fearfully, and Weiss headed back to where she had been looking. Weiss then pulled back a book and saw a pair of turquoise-blue eyes staring back at her. She jumped back, letting out a surprised yelp.

"Hello Weiss!" Nora exclaimed from the other side of the bookshelf, she then stuck her hand through and waved at Weiss, who looked at her as if she were crazy.

"Are... Are you OK?" Weiss asked the over-active orange-haired teen. Nora nodded from the other side and pulled her hand back through.

"Yeah. Are you still looki-" She said, but was interrupted mid-sentence.

"Nora!" Ren shouted from a few bookcases away. Nora's eyes widened in surprise, but then went back to their normal state.

"Coming Ren!" She called back and shot off. Weiss sighed and she went back to looking for a book on Ursi.

* * *

><p>"Nora!" Ren shouted while sitting at a table and writing the essay. He heard her shout her response and the very fast <em>'pat-pat-pat' <em>of her feet hitting the ground every step she took.

"Hello Ren!" She shouted when she reached him, and he shook his head.

"Nora... Please... Just try to help me with the essay." Ren ordered her, and she sat down next to him. Nora opened the book on Beowolves and began flicking through the pages rapidly. Ren groaned as he realised Nora wouldn't help him with the essay, so he took the book from her and waved her away. Her eyes lit up and she sped away from the table, back to where she had come from. He shook his head at his long-time friend's idiocy and went back to writing the essay.

* * *

><p>"Hey Blake, you found the book on Ursi yet?" Yang asked the quiet, cat-eared faunus. Blake nodded and Yang then threw her fist into the air. "Yes! To the tables, Partner Belladonna!" Yang exclaimed happily as she ran to the tables. Blake sighed as she walked calmly towards where Yang had head to.<p>

"Yang... What're you doing?" Blake asked the blonde teen curiously, who chuckled.

"Blake, oh Blake. You can be _so _naïve sometimes." Yang said, still laughing quietly to herself. Blake gave her an inquisitive look.

"Uh... Excuse me?" Blake asked, and Yang burst into laughter.

"I'm writing the essay dumbie!" Yang exclaimed and Blake's eyes widened.

"Yang... Are you OK? You never do _any _of the work set for you." Blake, once again, asked the teen. Yang then shook her head and laughed again.

"Well, I've gotta work sometimes, ya' know." Yang told her and Blake looked at her oddly again.

"OK... I'll be on the other side of the table..." Blake told Yang, backing away slowly and Yang nodded.

"OK Blake!" Yang shouted, and she went back to looking at the books on Ursi and Beowolves and writing the essay on the piece of paper.

* * *

><p>"Agents!" The Director shouted at them, and they snapped to attention. "As you may well know. We have lost five of our best soldiers. We believe the Insurrection on Eridanus II have taken them hostage, find and kill those Insurrectionists and free our soldiers. Dismissed!" The Director ordered the three agents. They saluted and walked calmly of the bridge of the Mother of Invention.<p>

"So, what do you think lads?" Wyoming asked the other two, Maine and Florida. Maine growled and Sigma appeared next to him.

"We think it will go smoothly." Sigma replied and Florida chuckled. "What is it, Agent Florida. Do you not... _Agree_ with his statement?" The fiery AI questioned the blue-clad Freelancer.

"Uh... No, I agree. Just laughing at a joke I remembered." Florida replied fearfully, and the AI disappeared. He let a _'whew'_ and pretended to wipe sweat off of his face, which was covered by his helmet.

"I don't think you should joke like that with Maine around." Wyoming told him, pointing at the, now growling, Maine.

"Ye-Yes... OK..." Florida said, backing away from the angry Maine.

* * *

><p>When the three agents reached 479er's Pelican, they walked into the seating bay, and readied in their seats.<p>

"You ready boys? We're gonna go on a rough trip!" 479er shouted over the Pelican's comms system. "You know what, I don't care if you ready or not!" She shouted again and the Pelican took off.

"Here we go lads, prepare to face the enemy head on!" Wyoming shouted over the noise of the Pelican. The other two nodded and they looked out of the back of the Pelican, ready for landing, and for battle.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter seven complete! Now onto writing Chapter eight straight after! WooHoo!<br>**


	8. Chapter 8: The Beaten

**Remnant's Freelancers:**

* * *

><p>"Alright, get ready for landing people!" 479er shouted at the three agents and the bay door of the Pelican opened. "Move it! Now now now!" She shouted once again and the three jumped out of the bay, weapons in hand.<p>

"OK lads. Let's get into formation!" Wyoming told the other two, Maine and Florida. They nodded and stood diagonally behind, on either side. "OK, I'll take out snipers and you two run in and find the others. Sync?" Wyoming asked the EVA-helmet-wearing Freelancer and the blue-clad Freelancer. Maine nodded and growled at the same time.

"Sync." Florida replied, and the charged forwards, guns blazing. Wyoming kneeled down, and aimed at one of the snipers that were aiming at Maine. _'OK... Wait... Fire!' _He thought to himself, and he shot the sniper, who's body fell off of the building. _'One down, Four to go...' _Wyoming's AI, Gamma, spoke to him in his head, and Wyoming nodded. He killed three more of them almost with stopping and reloaded.

"OK chaps, you should be able to get inside now." Wyoming told them over the comms system, firing at the final sniper, who ducked under the bullet. Wyoming groaned and fired again, hitting him in the head. That sent the sniper flying backwards, ragdolling when he hit the wall.

_"OK, we're in... Gonna find 'em now." _Florida replied, back over the comms system. Wyoming nodded and headed towards the entrance.

* * *

><p>"OK, we're in... Gonna find 'em now." Florida said, and he ran down the hallway after Maine. "Come on... Come on..." Florida muttered to himself as he ran, and he burst through a door. He saw Maine, fighting off a few hundred Insurrection soldiers, and he ran to help. Behind him, Wyoming entered the building, and spoke over the comms system.<p>

_"Maine, Florida. Where are you chaps." _He asked, and Florida activated his comms.

"Seventh door to the right, a ton of bullet holes. You can't miss it." He told the sniper, who ran over to the door. Wyoming kicked the door open, and rolled through. He got up and fired his SRS99 at the soldiers, taking out four of them, not missing once.

"Oh dear. Well then, looks like we have a fight on our hands chaps." Wyoming said and he rolled again, dodging multiple bursts from three different soldiers. Suddenly, the soldier opened a pathway, and two large soldier wielding chainguns and one holding a flamethrower walked down it.

"Oh no!" Florida exclaimed when he dodged a line of fire. "Great... This is just great!" He shouted to the two other Freelancers, who were trying to take out the heavily-armed soldier. All of the other soldier had fled the scene, and the three heavies were slowly moving backwards.

"Where do you think going, chaps?" Wyoming said, noticing that they were moving away from them. When they reached the back windows, the windows smashed, and they jumped out of them. The three Freelancers looked at each other, and a two Falcons flew upwards, the three soldiers in them.

"Well well well! If it isn't three more Agents of Project Freelancer. You know what's gonna happen don'cha? We're gonna do the samething to you as we did to the other five!" A voice from outside the window shouted at them. Wyoming shook his head and spoke up.

"And what would that be, dear chap?" Wyoming asked him, and no reply was heard for a few minutes.

"What will happen? You're gonna die, _dear chap_!" The voice said jokingly and a faint, high pitch whistling could be heard.

"Ah crap!" Florida said and the building burst into flames.

* * *

><p>Ruby sat down at the table, a book about Beowolves in her hands. Weiss was on the seat next to her, but she had been writing the essay there for over an hour. Weiss glanced over at Ruby, and saw that she had fallen asleep on the book on Beowolves, snoring into her hand. Weiss groaned and she walked over to her red-clad team leader. Weiss slapped the back of her head, and Ruby instantly awoke.<p>

"Gahuh!" Ruby exclaimed as her head shot upwards. Weiss shook her head and took the book out from under Ruby's hands, which fell quickly to the table. "Uh... I... Tired..." Ruby mumbled as she sat up and looked at her partner, who was already sitting down and writing the essay.

"Come on Ruby!" Weiss shouted at the younger huntress-in-training. Ruby groaned and she looked at what Weiss had been writing. Her eyes widened as she saw two pages were already completed.

"Your... Almost done?" Ruby asked her, cocking her head. Weiss slapped a hand to her forehead and she nodded slowly.

"I have been here for almost an _hour, _Ruby." Weiss told her, chuckling. Ruby just looked up at Weiss and back down at the essay repeatedly.

"But? But? But?" Ruby said confusedly, still looking up from the essay to Weiss, and looking down from Weiss back to the essay. "I... I... I-I don't..." Ruby stuttered as she looked around the library.

"Just try to help out Ruby!" Weiss ordered her, and Ruby scrambled into life.

* * *

><p>"Jaune?" Pyrrha questioned the empty space, looking around curiously.<p>

"Uh... I'm up here!" Jaune's voice sounded from above her, and she looked upwards, to see Jaune clinging onto the side of a bookshelf.

"Jaune... What're you doing?" Pyrrha asked him, and he looked down.

"Uh... I was... Uh... How do I say it? I was getting a book and the moving ladder, you know, moved." Jaune told her, still hanging onto the side of the shelf. Pyrrha laughed and she looked around for the ladder.

"Don't worry Jaune. I'llgo and get the ladder." Pyrrha told him, chuckling at his luck. A few minutes later, Pyrrha came racing around the corner with the moving ladder. "I've got it!" She shouted to him, and it was suddenly underneath his feet. He climbled slowly down the ladder, with a book in his hands. He opened it when he reached the bottom, and ran towards the tables.

"Come on Pyrrha!" He exclaimed as he ran, almost jumping up and down with joy. When he got to the table, he sat down and began to read his book.

"What're you reading Jaune?" Pyrrha asked him, looking into his eyes.

"Uh... I am reading... About... Ursi?" Jaune said questioningly, and Pyrrha's eyes narrowed.

"_What are you reading_?" She asked him again, and he shrank back on the other side of the table.

"Uh..." He managed before the book was snatched away from him. "Hey!" He shouted and she looked down at it.

"_The Complete Adventures of X-Ray and Vav_?" Pyrrha said questioningly as she looked at the thick comic book.

"Yeah, I really like the pictures... So... Can I have it back?" He asked her, and she shook her head furiously. "Aw... Why not?" He said, a pleading look on his face.

"Because we have to do the essay, remember." She told him, and he groaned, but also nodded sadly as he picked up a pen and began writing on a sheet of paper. Pyrrha then put the book on the other side of the table, and started to read through the book on Beowolves that they had picked out.

* * *

><p>"Hey Blake, how much have you written?" Yang asked the quiet Faunus, who looked up from her two sheets of paper.<p>

"I've almost finished the second sheet. How about you?" She replied, and Yang looked down at her pieces.

"Just about a quarter of the way through my second sheet. That means we're almost done." She told the black-haired girl, who nodded in agreement.

"OK. I'm done Yang. Meet me at the dorm when you're done, OK." Blake told the blonde-haired boxer, who nodded slowly.

"OK Blake." Yang said, as merry as always as she continued to write her part of the essay. While Yang was writing, she heard someone shout.

"Yeah! Take that Sun!" The voice exclaimed, and Yang stood up, looking around.

"Well, I was just about finished anyways." She told herself, and she began to head over to where the voice had come from. When she reached the area, she saw the boy from the docks, Sun, and someone else she hadn't seen before.

"Oh. Hey Yang." Sun said, waving at her. "Come 'ere." He said, beckoning her over. She went and sat down, and she looked at the blue-haired, goggles-wearing hunter.

"Who're you?" She asked the newcomer, who gave Sun a strange look.

"That's my old friend Neptune. Yang, Neptune. Neptune, Yang." He told the blonde, who nodded slowly.

"Nice to meet you, Yang." Neptune said, sticking out his hand. Yang shook it and she looked at Sun.

"So. What're you doing?" Yang asked him. Sun looked around and spoke up.

"We're playing Ruby's game." Neptune said and Yang gave Sun an angered looked.

"Woah woah woah!" Sun cried as her gauntlet-covered hand was now a few inches from his nose. "We didn't steal it. Ruby let us play it, calm down." Sun told her, and Yang pulled her hand back.

"OK. But if you _lose _it, there'll be an _extreme _price to pay. Got it?" Yang threatened the monkey-tailed Faunus, who nodded fearfully. "Good. Now, who's winning?" She asked them and Neptune smirked.

"I am!" He exclaimed happily, chuckling while he looked at the board. "I have 41% of the board under my control." He bragged, and Sun's face fell.

"Oh! That means you're 9% away from winning the game!" Yang exclaimed, and he nodded.

"Uh... Don't encourage him." Sun told her, only to receive a chuckle from the blue-haired boy.

"Well, I'll see you two later, I gotta go to my Team's dorm room." Yang told the them, and they nodded. She walked out of the library, and saw a group of people looking down on something. She ran over to it, and saw a young girl, no more than thirteen, bloodied, bruised and beaten, lying on the floor. "What happened?" Yang interrogated one of the people standing near her.

"We don't know. I was one of the first here. I saw a person run to the Infirmary, or somewhere in that direction, and when I saw, well, _her, _I had no idea what to do." The boy said, shaking.

"Somebody get the nurse!" Yang exclaimed and she saw one of the passersby run into the Infirmary. After a few minutes, the person returned with the nurse and Professor Goodwitch in tow. "Good." Yang mumbled as she saw the two teachers.

"Does anybody know what happened?" Goodwitch asked them, and they all shook their heads.

"Well, that isn't extremely helpful." A voice said, and Yang turned to see Ozpin standing behind her. "If you could all clear the area, I would to have a chat with this girl." Ozpin said, and the students fled the scene, leaving Yang with the headmaster. "Miss Xiao Long. I would like it if you left as well." Ozpin told her, but Yang stood her ground.

"If your gonna hear what she has to say. So am I Professor." Yang told him, arms folded. Ozpin shook his head, but complied.

"As you wish, Miss Xiao Long." He replied, and he looked down at the girl. He turned over, so she was then lying on her back. He then felt for a pulse, and stood up. "Good, she's alive, but she's also unconscious. I'll take her to the Infirmary. I'll inform you when she awakens." He told her, and he carried her towards the Infirmary. Yang stood still, eyes wide, but after a couple of minutes, she headed to the Team RWBY dorm room.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for the very late, and very short chapter, but I have had extreme Writer's Block, and I only finished this today. But I hope you liked it, and constructive criticism is <em>extremely <em>useful. So then, see you next chapter.**

**Stinger out.**


	9. Chapter 9: The Awoken

**Remnant's Freelancers:**

* * *

><p>Yang stepped through her team's dorm's door slowly, shaking while she did so. Blake looked up from her book to see Yang sitting down on her bed.<p>

"Yang?" She asked the blonde brawler, who was shaking on the bunk above her. "Yang, are you OK?" Blake asked her again, still getting no response. She stood up and looked at Yang, who was now lying on her bed, shaking like a leaf. "Yang, please. Tell me what's wrong." Blake said, and Yang sat up. She stopped shaking and looked Blake in the eyes.

"A girl was found almost dead on the floor..." Yang said, and started shaking once again. "She... She's still unconscious in the Infirmary. I asked Ozpin if I be there when he questions her about what happened." Yang whispered, and jumped off of her bunk when her scroll beeped. It read _'Message Received: Patient One-Zero-One is Awake'_. "She's awake, I've got to go Blake." Yang said, and she started to head out of the room.

"Yang, wait!" Blake called out to her, and Yang turned around to look at her. She was already by her side. "Yang, I'm coming too." Blake told the blonde, who nodded and started to head towards the Infirmary. "Yang look. If you're going to turn out like this, just don't go." Blake told her partner, who shook her head quickly.

"No, I'm going. I don't care what you say, _I am going to see that girl_." Yang said forcefully, and she ran ahead. Blake sighed as she saw Yang run off.

* * *

><p>"Excuse me. But I need to know this, where am I?" She said tiredly, and the grey-haired man looked down at her.<p>

"You're in the Infirmary, at Beacon Academy. Now who, might I ask, are you?" He asked, and she looked back up at him.

"I... My name is..." She started, but stopped halfway through her sentence and started crying.

"It's OK. You're safe now. There is no need to cry." He comforted her, and she stopped almost instantly after that. She heard a loud bang as the door was slammed opened furiously and it hit the wall. She looked over in the direction of the door, and she saw two girls, one with bright yellow hair while the other had pure black.

"I'm here Ozpin. Is she really awake?" The blonde girl asked before she saw the bedridden victim looking up at her.

"Hello. My name is Blake Belladonna. And she is Yang Xiao Long." The girl, Blake, said while pointing at the blonde.

"Hel... Hello, Blake?" She said questioningly, looking at the three people who were standing around her. She looked up at the blonde, Yang, and pointed at her. "I... I remember you..." She said slowly, lowering her arm while wincing. "You... You were with the crowd... Who... Who were around me... But... You stayed... You stayed after they left... You stayed... You stayed with... With him." She finished, then nodding her head at the grey-haired man, Ozpin. He nodded, and he looked at Yang.

"Yes... Yes she was there. But she should have left." Ozpin said calmly, returning his gaze to the victim. "So. Do you remember what happened to you?" He asked her, and she nodded.

"Yes... I do..." She spoke slowly, and she raised a hand to hold her head. "There... There were three men when I was attacked... Two of... Two of them were, uh... Fully armored... And the other had long... Long orange hair... One of the armored ones had a huge, golden helmet and was... And was wearing white... While the other... The other looked like those five... In that color place... Bluelyn... The five in Bluelyn, but... But he was... He was a tin man?" She said, and the three looked at each other.

"So... Do you know _your_ name?" Blake asked her curiously, and the bedridden girl shook her head.

"She seems to have experienced major amnesia." Ozpin said, and he looked at the two girls. "And it is time for us to leave, girls. Come on now, let her have some rest." He said and they walked off.

"Terzi... Laura..." She said slowly, and she found herself falling into a deep sleep.

* * *

><p>"Come on Yang, hurry up." Blake called out to her friend, who was walking slowly down the hallway.<p>

"Blake... The five Heroes of Bluelyn, what if there's more of them? And these two are rogues?" Yang said worridly, walking up to Blake, who chuckled in response.

"Yang, Ozpin said she suffered from major amnesia. It was probably just her brain coming up with an idea to why she was so injured. Your brain will do that." Blake told her, and Yang nodded in agreement.

"Well anyway, I'ma go back to the dorm and sleep. You do what you want." Yang said tiredly, and she walked over to the dorm's door and opened it. She walked in and jumped up to her bunk and she started to fall asleep. Suddenly, the door burst open and revealed an overly-dramatic Ruby.

"And... I am back!" She exclaimed as she entered the dorm.

"Ruby, the only way you could have got more dramatic was if smoke was pouring in from behind _or _there was an explosion behind you." Weiss said as she appeared from behind the red-clad girl.

"Well... You appeared from behind me, that's close enough." Ruby said and Weiss shot her a glare as she sat on her bunk. "What? It was a fair comparison." Ruby said and Weiss shook her head. "Wait! What's the time?" Ruby asked her, and Yang sat up.

"It's 12:27 Ruby, it's lunch break. But _someone _is trying to sleep." Yang told her, pointing at her accusingly, causing Ruby to shrink back.

"OK... I'm gonna go grab lunch now. Bye!" She exclaimed as she fled the dormitory and headed to the cafeteria. Yang shook her head and laughed while Weiss headed out after their team leader.

"Hey Yang, where's Blake?" Weiss asked her, and Yang shrugged.

"I don't know, probably getting lunch too." Yang answered her, and Weiss headed out of the dorm as well.

* * *

><p>"Oh, hey Blake." Ruby said and sat down next to her teammate. Blake looked up from a note book and looked at Ruby.<p>

"Hi Ruby." Blake replied, and Ruby slid closer to her.

"What're you doing?" Ruby said curiously, and Blake quickly shut the book.

"Nothing. It's nothing." She replied, covering the book with her hands and Ruby moved back. She looked at the book curiously, and she looked up at Blake.

"Hmm... Yeah, I don't think so, but OK..." Ruby said as she began to shovel food into her mouth. Blake looked at her team leader and then she saw Weiss heading towards them. "Hwy Yiess." Ruby said, her mouth stuffed with food, and Weiss gave her a strange look. Ruby swallowed her food and respoke her sentence. "I said, hey Weiss." Ruby told her and Weiss sat down with the two.

"Yang still sleeping?" Blake asked the two, and Ruby nodded furiously with a mouthful of food. Weiss shook her head and spoke up.

"Ruby, I think you should swallow before you do _anything_." Weiss told her, and the two burst into laughter as Ruby gulped down her food. Ruby joined them but almost instantaneously shoved another handful of her food into her mouth. She then saw Team JNPR heading over to a table, and waved to them. Jaune turned, and saw Ruby waving at them.

"Uh... Hey guys. You wanna go sit over there?" Jaune said, and pointed at the area the RWB of Team RWBY were sitting. Ren nodded and Pyrrha gave him a thumbs up, while Nora decided to shout.

"Yeah! Over to the RWBY's!" She exclaimed and she ran at full speed over to them, leaving the remaining three chuckling as they walked over to the four of their friends.

"Hey guys." Ruby said, and she put her fork onto her plate. "How much of the essay have you done?" She asked them and they replied in turn.

"Yang and I have finished." Blake said, causing all the others, apart from Ren, to look at her in shock.

"Already?" Jaune said surprised, and she nodded.

"We did two sheets each. It really wasn't that hard." Blake explained and she looked at the others triumphantly.

"We've got three sheets done." Jaune told them, and they nodded in appreciation. "What about you, Ren?" He asked the quiet boy.

"Huh? Oh, I've done three and three quarters." He informed them, and Nora smirked.

"Yeah! Look at what we've done!" Nora bragged, but Ren shook his head.

"Nora, you haven't helped at all." He told the energetic red-headed girl, who just laughed it off.

"What? No, that doesn't matter. The essay, it's a partner thing ya' know." Nora said as she jumped up and down while she was sat on her seat.

"Anyways... What about you two, Ruby?" Pyrrha asked the red-clad girl, who looked at Weiss.

"Uh... Three and a half sheets." Ruby said, and they looked around the hall. "So? What do you guys wanna do?" Ruby asked the group, and they looked at each other.

"How about a mini-tournament, on the training floor?" Jaune asked them, and Ruby looked at the others.

"Yeah! That sounds awesome!" Ruby said, but realised that Yang was still at the dorm. "But first, I'm gonna have to wake Yang." Ruby said, and raced off.

* * *

><p>When Ruby reached the dorm, she opened the door to hear loud snoring. She chuckled quietly as she tiptoed into the room and over to the blonde's bunk. She climbed onto the side of Yang's bed, and prepared to shake Yang awake. <em>'Oh! Better idea!'<em> She thought to herself and she stepped back from the bed.

"**Yang wake up!**" Ruby shouted and the blonde shot straight up, punching out.

"Uh... Ruby, I was sleeping. Why'd you wake me?" Yang asked her red-clad, younger sister. Ruby looked at her and grabbed her shoulders.

"We're having a mini-tournament on the training floor! Come on!" Ruby said before disappearing out of the door in a flash of red light. Yang rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and left the dorm slowly.

* * *

><p>"Where are they? Lessons will start in an hour." Jaune said, looking at the entrance to the training area.<p>

"I'm sure they'll be here any minute." Pyrrha said, and they burst through the door. "And there they are." She said with a smug smile on her face, while Jaune's mouth was left wide open.

"OK, we're here. What're the matches?" Ruby asked them, and they all looked at Blake.

"The matches are: Yang versus Ren; Weiss versus Ruby; Jaune versus Nora; Blake versus Pyrrha." Blake read out from her scroll. Jaune's reaction was a groan while Nora laughed evilly as she readied Magnhild.

"You're going down, Jauney-boy." Nora said, toying with the blonde leader.

"Good luck, Ruby." Weiss told her partner, who was also her opponent. Ruby stuck out her tongue, which caused Weiss to sigh at the childish action.

"I wish you a good match." Blake told Pyrrha who nodded and returned the comment.

"Oh, you are going _down _little Renny." Yang taunted the quiet boy, who dismissed the comment and wished her luck. "I won't be needing it." Yang taunted him once again, but he kept his calm and cool personality.

"OK. First match to start in the arena is... Weiss versus Ruby. Good luck." Blake said, and the two headed into the arena.

* * *

><p>"Hey? Where am I?" York questioned, looking around the room.<p>

"You're in the hospital York. You used too much Aura at once." Wash said, and York managed to focus on where he was.

"Aura? What's Au-?" York asked his friend, but Wash stopped him.

"Please. Do _not _get me started." Wash said jokingly and he held out his hand. "The Docs said as soon as you're up, you're ready to leave. So, we can go." Wash said as York grabbed his hand.

"Wow. Are we really that much bigger than the people here?" He said, pointing at the two beds he had been lying on.

"Yeah. Either we're _freaking __huge_ or the people here are tiny." Wash told him, and he looked around. "What's that Carolina? OK. Yes, he's up and he'll be at the house. Got it Boss." Wash spoke to an unheard voice.

"Was that Carolina?" York asked the steel-armored Freelancer, who nodded. "Yeah she can be quite a bit- Wait a minute, where's D?" York suddenly asked feeling the back of his neck.

"Woah! Don't worry, they didn't remove him. He's just in the computer back at base right now as we had to use him while we were on the field." Wash told the distraught Freelancer. York then calmed down as he learned that his AI fragment was fine. "He's actually been acting quite down lately. So hopefully he'll be happier now you're awake after all this time." Wash said, and York turned and looked at him suddenly.

"Wait! How long was I out?" York asked him, his hands placed on both of Wash's shoulders, shaking him back and forth.

"Woah God. Almost a week, just... Stop shaking me, please." Wash stated, and steadied himself after the intense shaking by York. "Everyone'll be happy to see you, even South has been missing you, York." Wash told him, and York nodded slowly, taking in all of the information. "Also, on the news, there has been a story of a girl who was beaten and left outside the door steps of some place called Beacon. She said she injured by two people who looked like us, but one wore a huge, golden helmet and the other was a tin man.

"But that would mean that-?" York managed before Wash finished what he was saying.

"That means that Maine and Wyoming are here too, and they aren't playing nice." Wash finished, and shook his head. "That... That just doesn't sound like Reggie. He would never harm a young girl for no reason. Or, not before he got that dreaded AI of his." Wash said, and York looked over his shoulder.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Those knock knock jokes it made him say were _awful_." York said, and the erupted into laughter.

_"York! York! Do you read?" _Carolina's voice sounded over the comms system.

"Yes Carolina, I read. What is it?" He replied, and he heard her sigh with relief on the other side of the comms chatter.

_"Wow. He wasn't joking. You really are awake." _She said and Wash joined the conversation.

_"Hey, why would I have been joking about it?"_ He heard Wash say from beside him, and over the comms.

"Hey, you two, stop arguing about it. I'm awake now, and that's what matters." York said, and he heard a chuckle from both Wash and Carolina. "Anyways, I'd say me and Wash are gonna be back in around five or ten minutes." York told her, and he nodded to Wash, who disconnected from the comms channel.

_"OK York. See you then. Carolina out." _She said, and disconnected from the channel. He smiled from under his helmet, now knowing that his entire squad, even South, cared about him.

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah another chapter! And you can guess what's going to happen next chapter. Yep, all of those battles that were spoken of in this chapter. It will hopefully be back to around 3000 words that chapter. And remember, constructive criticism is <em>always <em>useful. Adios!  
><strong>

**Stinger out.**


	10. Chapter 10: Flashbacks and Flash-Pranks

**Remnant's Freelancers:**

Carolina was sat at the table in their larger house, waiting for York to return from the Bluelyn Town Hospital. She ran her fingers along the edge of the table and she saw North walk out of Wash's room.

"Uh... What were you doing?" Carolina questioned the other Freelancer, who looked at her and back at room he had just left.

"I was... Uh... Not rigging his door?" North replied, slowly walking away from Wash's room and cyan-armored Freelancer. Carolina laughed as he headed away from her and shook her head.

"North, we're a group of elite soldiers stuck in a place that we have absolutely no idea about. So... Of course you play practical jokes on Wash." She told him and a huge grin suddenly appeared on his face.

"Well then, if that is so. I guess I can tell you about the prank." North said, the grin becoming larger. Carolina spread out her hands.

"So spit it out, North." Carolina said grinning from ear-to-ear. North, his face still donning the huge grin, walked back over to the room's door. He pushed it open, and it instantly slammed shut again.

"I'm hoping he won't expect that, and walk straight into it." He said, and he chuckled maniacally.

"OK... No need to oversell it, North." Carolina told him, and North nodded. Suddenly, the house's door burst open, revealing a not-so-happy South.

"Uh oh!" North exclaimed as South looked at him angrily.

"You don't happen to be responsible for this, do you North?" South spat at him, pointing at her utterly soaked hair.

"It's been lovely talking with you Carolina, but for now! I've gotta run!" He shouted as he fled the house, with his twin sister storming angrily after him. She heard an "_Oof_" come from, what sounded like a few feet, outside of the house. It was then followed by a "_Ow! Fu-"_ before North's voice was cut of by a thud.

"God... Poor North." A voice sounded, and Carolina spun around to see the tan-armored Freelancer, who she knew as York.

"York! You're back!" Carolina exclaimed as she ran over to and embraced him. "We're all glad to see you. Or... North will be when he awakes from whatever South was doing to him. I'm just... I'm just happy you're OK." Carolina told as she let go of him. York laughed as he took off his helmet and Wash just shook his head as he came through the door, whispering to himself.

"Come on Carolina, I've made it through worse. And we all know, that I am made of pure amazingness, and anything made of pure amazingness doesn't die that easily." York joked, and Carolina laughed quietly, while Wash groaned.

"You know what, I'm just gonna go to my room. Good. Bye." Wash informed them and headed to his room.

"Record." Carolina whispered into her helmet, and a blinking red dot appeared on her HUD. Wash walked towards his room's door, and he began to push it open.

"Huh?" Wash questioned, as the door didn't budge. He pushed harder, and opened the door just enough for him to be able to get into his room. He stopped pushing the door, and it slammed shut, hitting him and knocking him out of the room. "You're son of a bitch North, you really are." Wash said as he walked away from his room, shaking his head slowly, and he headed out of the house.

* * *

><p>"Good luck." Blake said, and the two partners headed into training arena. "The match between Weiss Schnee and Ruby Rose will be judged by me, and the first person who's Aura drops into the red will lose the match." Blake told all of the others, in a formal-match-type-of-manner. Blake raised her arm, looking at her two teammates. "Three..." Blake informed the two, and they readied their weapons. "Two..." Blake spoke again, and Ruby took two steps backwards with Crescent Rose in scythe-form. "One..." Blake said, almost finished with her countdown, and Weiss put her right foot forward. "Begin!" Blake shouted, and the two partners flew towards each other. Weiss' Myrtenaster's blade was then laced in an icy-blue-colored dust and she struck the ground, creating a field of ice on the arena's floor. Ruby stopped mid-run, almost slipping on the ice, and grinned as she shifted her sweetheart, Crescent Rose, into it's gun form. Ruby aimed at her white-haired partner, and began firing at her. Weiss held out her hand, and a glyph appeared in front of her and shielded her from the oncoming fire.<p>

"Woah!" Jaune exclaimed as he watched the two partners fighting each other fiercely. "They're... Uh... They're taking it quite seriously." He said while the two fought in the background.

"Well, why wouldn't they?" Blake replied bluntly, her eyes not leaving the area of the match. "They are on the same team, so to know each other's tactics, it just makes them a better member of the team." Blake told him, and he nodded slowly in agreement.

"But... They look like... You know... They look like they're trying to kill each other." Jaune replied worriedly, which caused Yang to shake her head.

"They'll be fine Jaune." Yang said, chuckling. "Come on Lady Killer, calm yourself. Just ask, why would they try hurt each other?" Yang told him, and he thought for a moment.

"OK... They wouldn't exactly _try_. But what if they did it _accidentally_?" Jaune asked her and she burst into laughter.

"Weiss is to well practiced to hurt her accidentally, and Ruby? Well, she couldn't hurt any one of us, even if she tried to." Yang answered his question, causing him to nod with agreement.

"Yeah... I guess so." Jaune said, and they went back to watching the battle between the two partners. While the two blondes had been talking to each other, both Ruby's and Weiss' Auras were now dropping into the yellow. Weiss was breathing heavily, blocking Ruby's strikes that came from the scythe-wielder who was zipping around the arena. 'Come on Weiss, don't show her any weaknesses. Wait for her to attack, then counter and return fire.' Weiss told herself, and she aimed her rapier at her no-longer-fast-moving, red-clad partner. Ruby was stood still, aiming her sniper-scythe at her brilliant-white-haired teammate.

"Hey Ruby! Are you going to move or not? I thought the way scythes were used on the battlefield was to '_never stop moving_'." Weiss mocked her teammate, who just shrugged it off.

"Oh yeah? And like that dainty, mockery-of-a-sword would be able to hit me!" Ruby retorted, and Weiss' face turned red with anger.

"Why you litt-" Weiss started, but Ruby began firing at her mid-sentence, which then drowned out her words with the sound of gunfire. Weiss summoned a brilliant-white-colored glyph underneath her, she jumped into the air and brought her rapier, Myrtenaster, down onto where Ruby had been a few seconds before, but hit only rose petals. Ruby waved at Weiss from the other side of the room, which caused Weiss to point at her. "Get back here Ruby!" She shouted, and she flew towards her scarlet-haired partner. Weiss brought her sword back and then swung forwards, but the strike was parried by Ruby's Crescent Rose. 'All according to plan.' Weiss thought to herself, and the blade of Myrtenaster was then covered in a red light. She struck again, this time causing an explosion, sending Ruby flying backwards, hitting a wall, and the red-clad girl's Aura dropping into the orange. Ruby shook her head and stood up slowly, a grin now finding it's way onto her face.

"Big mistake, Weiss. Big. Mistake." Ruby told the heiress, who was walking closer to her. Weiss looked at her red-clad team leader, who was still grinning, and brought her sword down. Weiss stopped it when it would've pierced her, but Ruby didn't move and Crescent Rose clattered to the floor. Yang ran towards the window, gasping.

"What's she doing? Why... Why isn't she moving?" Jaune asked the other blonde, but was given no reply. On the arena floor, Weiss knelt next to her partner, looking at her with a confused look on her face. She poked the red-clad girl's head, and her friend's entire body started to dissolve into rose petals. Weiss jumped back, even more confused than before, and Yang began pounding on the window.

"What? I... I don't understand." Weiss stammered, gawking at the pile of petals that were now on the floor. From the window above, Jaune saw a flash of red in the corner of the arena.

"Huh? Uh..." Jaune mumbled, while Weiss ran from the pile of rose petals, caused by Ruby's now-dissolved body. Yang stopped punching the window, a smile emerging on her face.

"Oh... I get it now..." She muttered to herself, and she went to leave the room.

"Yang?" Jaune shouted, and she turned to face him. "Where... Where are you going?" He asked her, and she shrugged in response.

"I really can't say. But she _has_ done this before, and if this is the same thing, then I know where she is." Yang said, and she swung the door open. Jaune kept looking at her until he couldn't see her at all, which then diverted his eyes to the white-haired heiress who was walking up the stairs to them.

"Where's Yang?" Weiss asked the remaining five, only to receive blank stares from all but one of them.

"Uh..." Jaune said, and Weiss then looked directly at him. "She didn't say where she was going, but she said she knows where Ruby is." Jaune told the Weiss, and she headed over to him quickly.

"Which way did she go?" She interrogated him, and he pointed to the door.

"You do know that is the only exit, right Weiss?" Blake joked with her, but was then shot an icy glare from her white-haired teammate. Weiss stormed out of the room, leaving the last five looked at each other.

"Some other time?" Jaune asked them, and they all nodded in unison. "Well... We better get going then." Jaune told them, and they left the room.

* * *

><p>Ruby stared at the grave, embedded into the ground by fifteen minutes worth of digging and refilling by a eight year old Yang. Tears tumbling down her face while she gazed at the stone and snow fell softly around her.<p>

"Oh mum, why'd you leave? Why... Why'd you leave us? Why leave me? Leave Yang? Why leave dad?" Ruby asked the grave of her mother, Summer Rose. "You could still be here to see what we've become if you hadn't left." She sobbed, sliding her hand along the side of the grave. Yang watched silently from the edge of the forest, remembering how it had been broken to her younger sister.

_**Flashback Starts**_

_Yang is sat on her bed, slowly looking around the room with red, puffy eyes. Her two-year-younger sister, Ruby, is on a bed on the other side of the room, playing happily. Yang knows that she isn't meant to tell the six-year old, she knows that their Uncle Qrow would come and tell her. After a minute or two, a couple of knocks sound from the other side of the door, and Ruby's face lit up, just like a candle. The door opened, which revealed Qrow, a middle-aged man with tousled, jet black hair and dark, violet-colored eyes, when Ruby saw him, her face fell. Yang's eyes followed him as he walked slowly over to her sister, and her eyes began watering._

_"Ruby. I don't know how to tell you this without confusing you, and breaking your fragile heart." Yang heard him say, and the tears began to fall from her eyes. Behind his back, he is holding a white cloak, which belonged to their mother, Summer Rose. Ruby looked into his eyes, a confused look on her face._

_"What... What do you mean?" She asked innocently, and his eyes began to water._

_"Ruby... As you know, your mother was given a mission, which she accepted." He said, and the six-year old nodded slowly. "Well... Her team and her encountered some... Resistance from the creatures of Grimm, and... Well... She got badly wounded by a pack of Beowolves." He told the young Ruby, who's eyes were now brimmed with tears, and he showed her the white cloak he had held behind him. "The other three members of her team tried to make it to a nearby town hospital, but they... They didn't succeed." He told her, and she began sobbing into his chest. Yang was still sat on her bed, watching her sister bawl into her uncle, from the sidelines. Yang had been crying herself, but had to keep it hidden until her sister was given the news. Now she sat still, watching her sister continue to cry, even after Qrow had left and Yang silently vowed to protect the girl, who was now clutching the cloak tightly to her chest. Ruby looked up, her eyes looked with those of her sister. Her silver eyes were now tinted with red, turning them slightly pink in color, that is what happens when Ruby, her father, or Yang happen to be angry. Ruby got up off of her bed, and stormed out of the room angrily, slamming the door shut behind her. Yang then burst into tears and shoved her face into her pillow, falling asleep a few minutes later._

**_Flashback Ends_**

Yang shook her head, watching the fifteen-year old sobbing, the tears dropping onto, and melting, the snow that was settled on the ground. Yang heard a rustling come from the forest, and Ruby stood up.

"Uh... I have to go now. The Grimm are here, already." Ruby told the grave and she turned, only to see her blonde sister standing at the edge of the line of trees. Yang's eyes widened as she saw Ruby look at her, staring into her eyes. "Yang, what are you _doing_ here?" Ruby asked her calmly, but her eyes were beginning to be flecked with pink.

"Oh... Um... I..." Yang stammered, backing away fearfully. Ruby's eyes hadn't changed, not even slightly, since the day of her mother's death, but her eyes were now pure red. Ruby headed slowly towards her blonde sister, stopping a few metres away from her.

"_What_! _Are_! _You_! _Doing_! _Here_!" The red-clad girl screamed at her sister. Yang watched her enraged sister get closer, and walked away faster, only to trip on a tree root. Ruby drew Crescent Rose, not changing it from it's storage form, and raised it like it was a club. She brought down with immense speed, but Yang brought up, and activated, her gauntlets and parried the strike. The sniper-scythe bounced of the yellow gauntlets, and was then changed into it's scythe form. Ruby looked at the brawler, who was now stood and aiming her gauntlets at her.

"Ruby, calm down!" Yang called out to her red-clad sister, who glared at her angrily. "Please Ruby, we don't need to do this. We don't need to fight." Yang told her, but Ruby shook her head slowly.

"No. You shouldn't have come here Yang, if you didn't, then this wouldn't be happening." Ruby replied maliciously, pointing at her sister angrily. "If you didn't come here, it wouldn't be this way." Ruby told her, and Yang looked back at her sadly. Yang sighed as she saw Ruby charge towards her, and she dodged to the side. Unbeknownst to the both of them, Weiss was following a pair of footprints in the forest, looking for the two sister. An explosion sounded from the distance, vaguely in the direction that footprints were headed. Weiss ran towards the area she had heard the sound come from. Yang jumped over the blade of her sister's scythe, she then fired her gauntlets and flew backwards. Yang stood up, but instantly crouched back down, ducking under a volley of bullets from Crescent Rose. Weiss emerged from the forest, only to find the sisters battling each other. She pulled out her scroll, and she checked their coordinates. She sent them to Blake and Team JNPR with the message '_Found them. Get here as soon as possible, Weiss._' Written under them.

* * *

><p>Blake pulled out her scroll after feeling it buzz in her pocket, she then pulled up a message from Weiss which read '<em>To Blake and JNPR's 117N, 343E. Found them. Get here as soon as possible, Weiss.<em>' Blake instantly ran to the room opposite, and burst through the door. All four of them looked up instantly, and Jaune showed her his scroll, which showed had the exact message.

"Yeah, we know. Oh, and we're using Pyrrha's car." Jaune told her, and she nodded.

"Well then. Let's get going, shall we?" Pyrrha's asked the four, and received four nods in return. They headed down to the Team JNPR garage, and they all slid into Pyrrha's car. Pyrrha started the engine, and drove out of the garage.

* * *

><p>Yang ducked under a swing of Crescent Rose and kicked the angered, red-clad girl. Ruby stumbled back, and she looked up from the ground, her face now bruised after a good ten minutes of fighting. Crescent Rose's magazine dropped, empty, and Ruby reloaded a different cartridge. Yang's eyes widened as she saw what Ruby was doing, and Ruby fired Crescent Rose. Behind Yang, the ground began to explode, causing Yang to run towards Ruby. Just behind the treeline, Weiss turned and saw Blake and the four members of Team JNPR.<p>

"Weiss. What... What's going on?" Jaune asked the white-haired heiress, who pointed towards the two siblings fighting. "What're they doing! Why... Why aren't we helping them?" Jaune said, trying run to them, but being held back by Weiss.

"Because... What ever they're doing, it's obviously a family matter. We, however, are here to watch, and intervene if it goes too far." Weiss told him, and he looked at her angrily.

"What! Watch! Just, watch!" Jaune shouted at her angrily, and she looked at him, shocked. "That... That's not what friends are for." Jaune told her, and he headed out of the forest. He stood between them, causing them both to stop.

"Jaune?" Ruby said questioningly, cocking her head, her eyes softened and her lips formed a smile. "Move Jaune." She ordered him, pointing to the treeline, but he shook his head slowly.

"Sorry. I can't do that Ruby." Jaune told her, and her smile faded.

"Well then, I'll just have to go through you." Ruby said, her eyes returning to what they had been before, and she sped towards him.

"Stop Ruby." Jaune said calmly, but she kept speeding towards him. "Ruby, stop... Please." He spoke, his voice rising and he reached for his sword. Ruby slowed down, but still ran at him. "I said, **stop**!" He shouted at her, and he slammed his sword into the ground, sending a shockwave thought the ground around him, knocking both Ruby and Yang off of their feet. He pulled it out of the ground and sheathed Crocea Mors. He looked over at Yang, who was now starting to get up, and then at Ruby, who was laying on the ground. He walked over to her, and shook her. Her eyes opened instantly, revealing them to have returned to their original silver color, and her gaze locked with his.

"What... What happened?" She asked him, a confused look on her face. Jaune looked back at Yang, and then at Ruby again.

"Uh... I think... I think Yang should... Should explain it to you." Jaune said slowly, his words getting quieter as he went along, and he collapsed into a heap.

"Jaune? Jaune!" Ruby exclaimed and she knelt next to him. Yang limped slowly over to the two, and Ruby looked up at her, her silver eyes now brimmed with tears. "Y-Yang, what... What happened?" She asked her sister, who looked at her sadly.

"You got angry Ruby. Very angry, and he stopped you." Yang told the fifteen year-old, who looked back down at the crumpled Jaune. The others ran out of the forest, and Weiss walked straight to Yang.

"Explanation. Now, Xiao Long." Weiss demanded, and Yang glared at her angrily.

"Not now, Princess." Yang told her angrily, and Weiss' eyes widened at the response. Ruby stared at Jaune's body, and she felt a hand be placed on her shoulder.

"There's no need to worry, he'll be fine. He just used too much Aura to make you stop." Pyrrha told her, and Ruby nodded.

* * *

><p>Carolina watched Wash leave the house, chuckling to herself.<p>

"Uh... What just happened?" York asked her and she burst out into laughter.

"North... North rigged Wash's door to not be able to stay open for long." She told him, and he started to laugh along with her.

"Wait. Why was South beating North to death?" York asked her, and she looked at the door.

"He did something which absolutely covered her in water." She informed, and the both burst into laughter. "It's good to have you back York." She told him and he nodded.

"It's good to be back Carolina. It's good to be back." York replied, and Wash walked back through the door, with North's helmet in his hands.

"Hey York." Wash said, and York looked at him. "North says hi." Wash told him, and he walked into North's room.

"What was that about?" Carolina asked, looking at the doorway Wash had just walked through.

"I have a feeling." York said, and he stood up, and walked to his room. "See ya' later Carolina." He told her, a and walked into his room, the slamming shut behind him.

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah! Finally, chapter 10 is complete, we're in double figures. Sorry it took so long, but a WiFiless house doesn't help with uploading and updating.<strong>

**Stinger Out!**


	11. Chapter 11: Truck Catastrophe

**Remnant's Freelancers:**

* * *

><p>The eight friends piled into the car seven-seat, bright red car. Pyrrha sitting in the driver's seat, Nora bouncing happily next to her in the passenger seat; Ruby, Weiss and Blake sat behind them, and Ren sat next to Yang who sat in the car's boot with an unconscious Jaune on her lap.<p>

"Are we there yet?" Nora asked them cheerfully as the car sped along. Blake shook her head, a smile on her face, while Weiss looked at the energetic ginger angrily.

"No." She said, shooting Nora's back an angry glare. Nora stuck her head out of the window, looking from the front to the back. Weiss smacked her hand to her forehead, and shook her head slowly. Next to Yang, Jaune stirred from his lack-of-Aura-caused sleep. He looked around, his face holding as confused look.

"Er... I uh wa bu ga bu?" He spoke, his words garbled for no apparent reason. This caused the four members of Team RWBY and Ren stare at him with looks of confusion, and then they burst into laughter.

"What was that?" Ren asked him, the five of them still looking at him and laughing. Jaune sat up, rubbing the back of his head.

"Um... I..." He said embarrassedly, causing the five to laugh harder.

"That wasn't even close to words." Yang spoke in between laughter and gasps for breath. Jaune looked behind him, his face flushed with embarrassment.

"Yeah Jaune, I know you just woke up after saving me from my uncontrollable rage, but that was _strange_." Ruby said, giggling quietly to herself. Jaune's face turned from a slight pink to a red comparable to that of a ripe tomato or Ruby's cloak.

"I... Uh... Oh whatever..." Jaune gave up, his gaze dropped to the floor and he sighed. "You know what?" Jaune said, and Ruby gave him a curious look.

"What, Jaune?" Ruby asked him, and he looked at the five of them.

"Sometimes... I hate every one of you." He told them, and he went silent. Nora turned around to face them, the hugest of grins of her face.

"Are we there yet?" She asked them, and Blake sighed. Weiss' face turned red with anger, and she faced Nora.

"No!" Weiss shouted at the ginger-ball-of-energy. Nora's grin widened, and she turned around.

* * *

><p>After a good twenty minutes of driving, the two teams had already heard around a thousand <em>'Are we there yet<em>'s and Weiss had always replied with '_No_', shouting at Nora angrily.

"Are we there yet?" Nora said, not turning. "How about now?" The energetic hammer-wielder asked them as she turned, only to see Weiss' finger about to poke her eye out.

"No! For the last time, no!" Weiss exclaimed while pulling her finger away from the turquoise eye, and suddenly the car skidded to a halt. Blake looked up from her book, and Yang snapped out of a not-so-deep sleep.

"Hey Pyrrha, why are we stopping?" Yang asked the amazon, who looked at the brawler. She pointed ahead, and the four members of Team RWBY looked through the windshield. Ahead of them was an upturned lorry, a gap between it and the ground due to a hill, and it's cargo was left strewn over the road. One of the cargo containers was open, revealing crates of unrefined dust crystals.

"Uh... I-I-I-I don't want to open that door. D-D-Do you want open it Jaune?" Ruby stammered, questioning the blonde knight. Jaune looked from the door to his red-clad friend, then back to the blood-leaking door.

"Um... OK, I'll... I'll do it." He told them, and he reached for the handle. He tugged on it, but to no avail. "Uh... It's locked." He told them, standing back from the door.

"Let me try." Pyrrha said, and she reached for the door, activating her semblance. A series of clicks then came from the door and it fell open, revealing a man with a rather large hole in the right side of his head. The group jumped back, surprised by the damage.

"I don't think that was caused by the windshield smashing." Weiss said, inspecting the wound. "But it's not caused by dust either. It was caused by... Something else." She told them, her voice gave away her confusion.

"So... That rules out Torchwick..." Ruby added, looking over her shoulder. Yang looked at Blake, and then at the ground. The others nodded with agreement, and they headed to the open container. Blake picked up one of the crates and examined it.

"The Brayden Santiago Shipping Company." Blake read out, and Jaune's eyes widened.

"I know that company. My parents use it to send things to my cousins in Atlas." Jaune told them, and Weiss' eyes narrowed.

"Then why would they be shipping this much dust?" She asked him, and he shrugged in response. "And why would they be out here? In the middle of a forest? Which is almost most completely covered in snow?" Weiss questioned, and Jaune shrugged once again.

"How should I know, Ice Queen. I'm not one of them, am I?" Jaune said, not seeing Weiss shoot an icy glare at him.

"Look, rather than burning a hole in his back, how about we just leave and report this to the authorities." Yang said, receiving nods from; Ren, Jaune, Pyrrha and Blake.

"But... But... Look at what they did! They killed him! For what, they barely took a crate!" Ruby told her brawler sister, who had already began heading to the door.

"But we can't do anything Ruby. They've already left, and they obviously covered their tracks, so we can't even follow them." Yang explained to her younger, more naïve sister.

"Yeah... I guess you're right... Come on, let's go." Ruby said sadly, and she trudged to the car.

* * *

><p><em>(Ten Minutes Before)<em>

**_Flashback Starts_**

_Snow fell softly around him while he stood himself upright, brushing off snow that had found it's way through the trees and onto his silver armor. He looked around and saw a golden visor a few metres away, almost completely hidden by the trees. He ran over to it, and he saw the full armor of Agent Maine. But what surprised him was that he saw a man with in white suit, and his orange hair covered his right eye. He his behind the thick trunk of a tree and peeked his head around to see the mystery man inspecting Maine, who was still unconscious. He brought out his pistol, and he crept over to where the mystery man was standing. He aimed at the man's head, and moved slowly towards him. The cold metal of his pistol touched the back of the man's head, and the mystery man raised his hands in the air._

_"Woah! No need to be hasty, let me talk to you first." The man said, and the gun was lowered. The mystery man turned, holding out his hand. "I'm Roman Torchwick, and who are you?" He asked the Freelancer, who looked down at Maine and back up at Torchwick._

_"Well then Roman. I'm Agent Wyoming of Project Freelancer, and that oaf there is Agent Maine." Wyoming told him, and Torchwick nodded slowly. Maine stirred, growling quietly. Wyoming walked over to the half-asleep Maine and shook him. The large agent woke up instantly, standing up quickly and he unslung his weapon from his back. He growled, pointing the large rifle at Torchwick, but Wyoming held him back. "Calm down chap, he's a friend, his name's Torchwick." Wyoming told the other agent, who then slung his weapon over his back once again. He growled at Torchwick, and his AI, Sigma, appeared next to his head._

_"It's good to meet you Torchwick." The AI fragment said, and Torchwick nodded, a smile on his face._

_"It's as much of a pleasure meeting you. As you could be very useful to me." Torchwick replied, and Maine cocked his head. Wyoming looked at the man, taking his helmet off, which revealed his overly large facial hair._

_"What do you mean '_Useful_'?" Wyoming asked the orange-haired man. Torchwick smiled, and he looked around._

_"Could I interest you two in some Dust?" He asked them, and they shook their heads, and Torchwick's face fell slightly. "How about money?" Torchwick questioned them, and Wyoming's face lit up. "Ah, one person I've pleased. And you." He said, pointing at Maine. "You look like the kind of person who wants power. So, how about it?" He asked the large Freelancer, who nodded slowly. "It's settled then, follow me." Torchwick said, and he headed off, the two Freelancers in tow._

**_Flashback Ends_**

Wyoming watched as the lorry drove down the road, aiming his SRS99 at the driver's head. His sniper rifle was loaded with his special explosive rounds, the explosion would be small, but still large enough to be easily noticeable. Maine was sat next to him, his arms crossed. His fiery AI appeared next to his head.

"We need to get on with it. Torchwick won't be happy if this isn't completed." Maine's AI, Sigma, told the silver-colored Freelancer, who nodded.

"Yes yes... I know. I'm just waiting for the right time to strike." Wyoming replied to the AI fragment, who disappeared suddenly. He looked down the sight of his SRS99 ,waiting for the lorry to slow down at the turn. Next to him, Maine had stood up, reaching silently for his weapon. Suddenly, he ran down the hill, towards the slow-moving lorry. This caused Wyoming to look up from his sniper's sight, his eyes wide under his helmet. Maine jumped onto the road, running towards the driver. Maine grabbed onto the side, which caused the lorry to swerve. He smashed his hand through the window, and he pulled the driver towards him. He turned his weapon around, and he brought it into the right side of the man skull, and the lorry's horn erupted through the forest. Wyoming shook his head angrily, and he slung his sniper rifle over his back. He walked down the hill, looking at the containers that were left strewn over the road. Maine walked over to the closest container, tearing it open, which revealed several crates. Wyoming nodded to Maine, who then lifted out one of the crates, and he then ripped it open. This revealed several types of Dust, and Gamma appeared next to Wyoming's head.

"This is it." The AI said, and Sigma appeared next to him. Sigma smiled, nodding slowly.

"Yes, it is. Grab it go." Sigma replied calmly, and Maine grabbed several crystals in each hand after he slung his weapon over his back. Wyoming grabbed three crystals in each hand, and walked away from the scene.

* * *

><p>Ruby looked back at the crashed lorry, sadness in her eyes. She looked away, and looked back at to the front of the car. Nora turned around, and Weiss growled at her. Nora's face fell, and she instantly turned around. Ruby looked at Weiss, and chuckled quietly.<p>

"Hey Weiss... Can I ask you something?" Ruby asked her, and she nodded slowly.

"Yes Ruby... You can." Weiss replied, yawning afterwards. Ruby grinned maniacally, and looked into Weiss' ice-blue eyes.

"Weiss... _Are we there yet_?" Asked her, causing the heiress to sigh angrily and look away in disgust. Nora turned to face the red-clad girl, grinning at her. Both of the energetic girls began to laugh, and they high-fived each other. Yang chuckled quietly, but Weiss snapped her head to face the blonde-brawler.

"What Weiss? Are you angry?" Yang asked the fuming heiress, who looked away, shaking her head slowly. The car rocked as it turned as sharp corner, causing Jaune to knock his head on the side of the car. He let out an '_Oof_' and he rubbed his head slowly, and the car erupted into laughter.

* * *

><p>Wash looked at North, who had been knocked out by Wash and South. He rolling around on his bed, and Wash chuckled quietly to himself. He shook his head when he saw the purple-armored Freelancer sit up, rubbing his head slowly.<p>

"Uh... What happened?" He asked the other Freelancer, confused. Wash laughed louder, and he walked out of the room, chuckling to himself. North cocked his head to the side, and his eyes widened when he heard Wash shout from outside. His eyes widened in realisation, and he burst into laughter. Wash looked at his room's door, which was still held shut by North's prank, and he sighed in anger.

"Ah... Whatever, I don't even care anymore." He said dismissively, and he walked calmly away from his room, and he sat at the table in the centre. North poked his head out of the room, and he saw Wash sitting at the table, and he walked over to the angered Freelancer. He sat down next to him, and patted the steel-armored Freelancer, who looked at him angrily.

"You uh... You having a bit pod trouble there Wash?" North asked, straight-faced. Wash looked at the sniper, and chuckled.

"Yeah... I guess you could say that." Wash replied jokingly, and North chuckled. North stood up, and walked over to the door.

"I didn't want it to be permanent, so I rigged the switch right _here_." He said, and he poked a switch that was a few feet away from Wash's room's door, and a click came from inside the room. North then walked over to the door, and pushed it wide open. "To stop the prank, and allow the door to open." North told the other Freelancer, and chuckled as he headed back to his room. "Well then... Good night!" North said, and he slammed his room's door shut, leaving Wash sitting on his own.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11 is now complete! Yeah, it may be short, but it was more of a comedic chapter than a story chapter. Anyways... Something else <em>may <em>be coming up next update, you never know, do you?**

**Stinger out!**


	12. What's this?

**? ? ?**

* * *

><p><strong>15:08<strong>  
><strong>Friday<strong>** 28th**  
><strong>August<strong>  
><strong>Year<strong>** 320**

A fist slammed onto the table, creating a loud **'Bang'** and a small dent appeared in the metal. An enraged, but quiet sigh came from the hand's owner, who had shoulder-length brown hair and deep-green, intelligent eyes. She stared at a holographic map, watching three green blips move swiftly away from an approaching horde of red blips. She shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose and pacing back and forth. The door to the room burst open suddenly, revealing a young, but built, man. His short, scarlet hair opposed the color of his eyes, which where a dark cyan. He had some sort of rifle slung over his back, and in his hands he held a black machete, it's blade shone and was tinted green. The boy extended his hand, giving her the weaponry-master-piece. He nodded, and he threw it towards her, and the weapon was caught expertly by her hand. She nodded back at him, and he walked out slowly, reaching his rifle as he did so, a smile spreading onto his face. However, her face was holding a grim look, watching the retreating green blips. The machete shifted in her hands, it mechanisms whirring and clicking as it changed. The clinks and clanks started when the pieces knocked together and the pieces now locked into place. In her hands, she now held a carbine, it's barrel and sight had green tints to them. She threw it into the air slightly, and she caught in her opposite hand, her right. A grin had now found it's way onto her face, and she opened the door, her weapon at the ready. She looked down the sight, only to see a raven-haired boy with a large, cocky grin on his face. His bright blue eyes locked onto her's, as she was now looking up at him.

"Aw, come on Wendee." He said with an heavy Australian accent, the grin on his face not failing for a second. "There's no need for that. Now come on, don't wanna leave fourteen-niner waiting, do ya?" The boy said, running towards what looked like a hangar bay, and Wendee smiled.

"Don't worry, Team. We're coming to get you." She spoke quietly to herself, jogging after the raven-hair slowly.

* * *

><p><strong>What's this? What's this? Well, you won't know for about a month or two. This is a story I've prepared for, probably for about a year, maybe even a year and a half. If you like it, it'll be weekly, maybe even every three days.<strong>

**Stinger out!**


	13. Chapter 12: Hello Brother

**Remnant's Freelancers:**

* * *

><p>The four members of Team RWBY walked into their dorm room, their leader smiling widely. Ruby jumped onto her bed, and Weiss instantaneously glared at her.<p>

"You _do _remember what happened the last time you did that, right?" Blake asked their leader, who then grinned insanely. She nodded enthusiastically, her grin growing larger.

"Yeah... That was fun..." Ruby said slowly, extending most of the vowels. Yang laughed, while Weiss smacked a hand to her own face in anger. Blake grinned slightly, and Weiss growled at all three angrily.

"What? Something wrong?" Yang questioned her sarcastically, and Weiss locked onto her violet eyes. Weiss saw the door of the dorm room from the corner of her eye.

"Uh Yang... Can I talk to you in private?" Weiss asked the blonde brawler, who looked at her confusedly. Yang looked from the white-haired heiress to her red-clad sister, and then to her black-haired teammate. Blake nodded at her, and Yang smiled at the younger sibling.

"I'm just gonna talk to Weiss, kay Ruby." Yang told the team leader, who nodded slowly and looked at her sympathetically.

"Yang, you don't have to tell me things like that anymore." Ruby told the blonde, placing one of her hands on her sister's shoulder. "Just talk to her Yang." Ruby ordered her older sister, who nodded sadly with watered eyes. Weiss opened the door, motioning to Yang to hurry up. Ruby pushed her slightly towards Weiss. She then walked out of the door, Weiss following her and the heiress closed the door quietly behind them. "What do _you_ wanna talk about, Blake?" Ruby asked Blake, who chuckled quietly.

"I don't know... Why don't you decide." Blake replied, and Ruby looked downwards.

"How about our plan against Torchwick?" Ruby asked her innocently, and Blake grinned in response.

* * *

><p>Wash stepped out of the house, stretching his arms out wide. His BR55 was slung over his back, and he chuckled. <em>'God this feels strange.'<em> He thought to himself, walking down a small street. _'Why is tha__t? Oh... It's freedom. Freedom feels strange.' _Wash told himself mentally, and a blue hologram appeared next to him.

"Uh... Wash. I'd be quiet if I were you." Epsilon told him, and Wash looked at him questioningly, his eyes narrowed.

"Why..." Wash whispered to his AI, who's light dimmed. Epsilon disappeared, and reappeared a few feet down an alleyway. _'Wash. In here, now!'_ Epsilon mentally told him, and Wash ran towards the AI. _'What is it?'_ Wash asked the memory fragment, but received a _'shush'_. _'Seriously. What is it, Epsilon?'_ Wash questioned the AI, who sighed inside of Wash's head. _'I've got a couple Freelancers on my tracker, but the other four are back in the two houses. So I was wondering...' _Epsilon told Wash, who was nodding. _'You were wondering if we could check it out?'_ Wash questioned the AI, and heard another mental sigh. _'Yes, I was. So... We are, let's go!'_ Epsilon shouted, causing Wash to hold his head in pain. _'OK, no shouting remember.' _Wash reminded Epsilon, who's hologram nodded. _'Wait! Wait wait wait! This isn't right... It says they're...' _Epsilon started, but dragged on. _'It's Maine and Wyoming isn't it?' _Wash asked him mentally, and the almost unnoticeable hologram next to him nodded slowly. _'Wait? How'd you know?' _Epsilon asked him curiously, and Wash sighed. "It's a long story." Wash told him out loud.

"Get behind the wall." Epsilon whispered to him, which caused Wash to duck and ran over to the wall. "I've got eyes on them. It's... Yep, Maine and Wyoming., but they're with someone else. I don't know 'im though." Epsilon told Wash, who nodded slowly.

"You think I can take them?" Wash asked the AI, who shook his head.

"No way. No way in hell." Epsilon replied emotionlessly, and Wash sighed. Wash unslung his battle rifle and charged out. Epsilon brought a hand to his face watching in a slower timeframe. "God damn it Wash." Epsilon cursed, watching the Freelancer charge slowly. In front of Epsilon, two more AI appeared.

"Hello brother." Sigma said, causing Epsilon to groan internally. _'Great. These guys again.' _Epsilon thought to himself angrily.

"What do you guys want?" Epsilon questioned the two AI, Sigma and Gamma.

"We would like it if Agent Washington surrendered." Gamma said bluntly, and Epsilon sighed angrily.

"Yeah... I would like to help you guys... But I really wouldn't. So if you could skedaddle, that'd be great." Epsilon replied, a hint of anger in his voice.

"You're making a mistake Epsilon. And it is a rather large one." Sigma told him before disappearing. Suddenly, two different AI appeared on either side of Epsilon.

"Oh hey Theta, Delta." Epsilon greeted them, and Delta flew over to Wash. "Wow, it's like you read my mind Delta." Epsilon congratulated the green AI.

"Technically I did as I am only a memory of Delta." Delta replied emotionlessly, causing Epsilon to sigh.

"Way to ruin the mood D." Epsilon retorted mindlessly, staring at Wash. "Hey Theta, you think you could get me a bioscan on Maine and Wyoming?" Epsilon asked the trust fragment, who nodded enthusiastically. Theta disappeared, only to reappear next Wyoming.

"It looks like Wyoming is rather tired right now." Delta told him from next to Theta.

"Great, how about Maine?" Epsilon questioned, and a holographic chart appeared in front of him. "Ah, I see." Epsilon said, extending the _'ah'_. The chart showed:

_**Bioscan Chart:**_

**Agent Maine:**

_Is tired  
>Has received minor injuries to the leg<br>Has received an extreme power boostage from an unknown source  
><em>

**_Chart End:_**

"OK, thanks guys." Epsilon told the two AI, who then disappeared. "Hey D, front an' center." Epsilon asked the memory of the logic fragment, who appeared the to him instantly.

"What is it Epsilon?" Delta asked the memory fragment, who then pointed at Wash.

"Can you figure out a routine where he is least likely to be injured or die?" Epsilon ordered the AI, who nodded.

"I will do it immediately." Delta said, and he blinked twice. "Done, sending analysis to his HUD now... Complete." Delta informed the AI, who nodded in appreciation.

"Thanks D." Epsilon replied thankfully, and the green AI disappeared. "Now... Let me see what the injury and death chances are." Epsilon spoke to himself, bringing up another chart, which showed:

_**Chance Chart:**_

**Injury Chance:  
><strong>

_63%  
><em>

**Death Chance:  
><strong>

_27%_

**_Chart End:_**

"Huh? Guess that's the best we can get." Epsilon asked himself as time began to _'speed back up'_. "Roll right!" Epsilon shouted at Wash, and Wash rolled behind a barrel.

"This is Wash, calling York. Can you hear me? I need backup. Epsilon, send them the location!" Wash said, ordering his AI.

"OK, listen carefully. It is four blocks west and seven blocks south of our houses." Epsilon told them over the comms channel, and a buzz was heard from the other side.

_"This is York, I hear you loud and clear. Epsilon, if you could state the name of said place." _York replied, and Epsilon looked at Wash curiously.

"Uh... Free lane, why do you ask?" Epsilon told him, and Wash heard a chuckle come from York.

_"Huh, that's mildly convenient. I guess we're gonna be the Free-lane-cers." _York joked from over the comms channel, and multiple groans could be heard from York's side of the channel. _"What? It ma- Ow! It made sense." _York assured the others, and Wash sighed.

"Hey, if you could just get here, tha-." Wash started angrily, and he got up and fired a burst at Maine before he ducked down again. "That'd be great." Wash told the other Freelancer, and he heard another chuckle.

_"Yep, OK. We're five blocks away, see ya' in two." _York replied, and the channel went static. Wash heard a familiar growl, almost completely blocked out by the sounds of gunshots and explosions, gradually growing closer

"They better get here soon." Wash told Epsilon, taking another shot at Maine and Wyoming.

* * *

><p>Weiss dragged Yang out of their dorm room. She took two chairs off of a stack of five, and set one each side of the door. Weiss sat down on one, and pointed at the other, ordering Yang to sit on it.<p>

"Alright Princess, what do you wanna ask me?" Yang questioned the white-haired heiress, who returned her with a deep glare.

"Yang..." Weiss began, looking at the floor. "What happened two days ago?" Weiss asked the blonde brawler, and Yang's eyes began to bleed red.

"What do you mean?" Yang replied angrily, her hands now clenched into fists. Weiss' ice-blue eyes locked with the blonde's violet-turning-red ones.

"Yang, please. I need to know." Weiss pleaded, and Yang sighed sadly. Yang's gaze dropped to the ground, her eyes returning to their normal color. Yang looked back at Weiss, her eyes brimmed with tears.

"No Weiss... It's a sensitive subject, please..." Yang said, a tear falling down her face. Weiss studied Yang's looked, and huffed.

"Yang, if _you _won't tell me, I'll just have to ask Ruby." Weiss said, standing from her chair and turning to face their dorm room door.

"No, _don't _ask Ruby." Yang ordered her angrily, and Weiss sat back down.

"Then explain." Weiss said calmly, and Yang sighed once again.

"It... It happened when I was eight... Both me and Ruby were in our room. She was playing happily. I, however, wasnt'. Ruby... She didn't know what news was about to come. She didn't know how badly it would break her, how badly it would tear through her mind and rip her apart from the inside. Her mother, Summer Rose, was a _huge _inspiration for her, and I mean huge. Ruby would always try to be like her, she would love to be with her and she loved impressing her. Ruby always said she loved all of us equally, but it was obvious. A six year-old can't love anything the same as another. And, like most children would, she loved her mother the most. I wasn't angered by it, I sure loved her a lot, but I loved Ruby more. And the amazing huntress Summer Rose... She was almost always not there... And when she was there, she was distracted. Everytime she came back from a mission, she'd greet me and Ruby at the door and go straight to doing something with her weapon or her ammo or her armor, never noticing us once. And one day... She didn't. She didn't come back to greet us. She was injured by a pack of Beowolves. And... And she didn't make it to the hospital at the nearest town... Ruby was devastated, she was torn. But most of all... She was angry." Yang said, the tears that had been swelling in her eyes now falling out. Weiss looked at her sympathetically and placed a hand comfortingly on Yang's shoulder.

"You don't have to go on Yang." Weiss told her, but the brawler shook her head.

"No... I'll go on..." Yang replied, looking back at the floor. "Ruby didn't speak to anyone for weeks. She locked me out of the room, and when I managed to get in... She just stared at the wall, clutching her mother's cloak. But... When she spoke for the first time in weeks, she directed it at... At her mother. She told her that she just wished she would come back, that she would say hello again. And she said that she wished.

_**Flashback Starts**_

_"I just wish that you would notice me for once... Just one time... Notice me..." Ruby said, and she broke down crying, falling onto her knees. Yang rushed over to her, only to be pushed away by the young girl. Ruby's eyes were once again tinted pink, her common silver mixing with her familiy's angered red. She reached over and grabbed Summer's cloak, still it was stained with blood. Ruby looked back at her older sister, her eyes pink and bloodshot. "Why didn't she notice me Yang..." Ruby said, before she passed out, falling backwards._

_"Ruby!" Yang shouted, grabbing her sister and shaking her by the shoulders. "Ruby! Ruby Ruby Ruby!" Yang screamed, and their father came rushing in through the door._

_"Yang, what's wrong?" He questioned, before he noticed the unconscious Ruby in Yang's arms. "What happened? No... No no no..." Their father whispered, running to the eight year-old Yang and taking the six year-old out of her arms. "I'll... I'll take her to her bed Yang... Yo-You stay here, OK sweetie." He told her, and Yang nodded slowly, watching as her father walked quietly out of the room. Yang looked at the bloodstained cloak that Ruby had left on the floor and picked up the piece of cloth. Yang smiled sadly, walking up to their shared room, watching her father tuck the unconscious Ruby into bed.  
><em>

_"Hey Dad... She dropped this..." Yang told her father quietly, and he took it gently from her hands._

_"Thank you sweetie. I think you should go to bed too now." Her father replied, and Yang nodded, walking over to her bed. "Good night Yang..." He told her, and he kissed her forehead._

_"Good night Dad..." Yang replied quietly.  
><em>

**_Flashback Ends_**

"Wow..." Was all Weiss could muster at what Yang had just told her. "Yang... I'm sorry to ask. But why was she fighting you in that forest." Weiss asked the blonde.

"She was visiting her mother's grave. She doesn't like others being there." Yang replied, and Weiss nodded slowly.

"So, you want to go see what the other two were talking about while we were gone." Weiss questioned, and Yang nodded with a grin on her face.

* * *

><p>"And the final plan is that we sneak around and take him from behind!" Ruby exclaimed, and Blake laughed.<p>

"First we have to find out where he is, Ruby." Blake reminded the girl, who groaned with annoyance.

"Aw... But that means research..." Ruby whined, causing Yang to chuckled from the doorway. Ruby's head snapped around to look at the doorway, and she saw the two other members standing still. "What?" Ruby questioned, and Yang burst into laughter.

"I didn't know my sister was so _whiny_." Yang teased the red-clad girl, who's shoulders sagged.

"I'm not _whiny_." Ruby complained, and the other three laughed. "Anyways, what did you talk about?" Ruby asked them, and the two exchanged looks.

"Uh... It's better we don't talk about it anymore than we already have.." Yang told her, rubbing the back of her head and Ruby let out another _'aw'_. "So. what were you two talking about." Yang asked the red and black girls.

"Oh, just our plan against Torchwick." Ruby replied nonchalantly, and Yang's eyes widened.

"You were talking about beating up Torchwick?" Yang said, and Ruby's eyes widened with fear. "Without _me_?" Yang asked jokingly, and all four burst into laughter.

"So, what did you come up with?" Weiss asked, and Ruby perked up.

"Well..." She said maniacally, causing Blake to sigh.

"Now you've started it." Blake told the heiress, who responded with a confused look. "It'll take about fifteen minutes for her to finish this." Blake informed the two other girls, and Yang sighed.

"Uh... We have time..." She said dejectedly, sitting down on a chair. Three sets of eyes stared at Ruby, who suddenly creeped away.

"Uh... I don't wanna talk anymore!" Ruby said, and she jumped away from the three and onto her bunk.

"Oh, is little _Wuby _getting shy?" Yang teased the younger girl, who glared at her in response.

"No! Uh... OK, maybe a little." Ruby replied, and Yang poked the girl's shoulder, which then caused the already off balance girl to fall backwards. "_Hey!_" Ruby exclaimed, and the other three burst into laughter.

* * *

><p>Weiss was stood in the Beacon hall, alone. Next to her stood a microphone, and she stared at it as it rested in it's stand. Weiss scanned the horizon, seeing that there was no one there, she walked over and grabbed the microphone. She pulled a sheet of paper out of her pocket, and it's title had been written in hastily and could be barely be made out. It read: <em>"-e- -i-e -os-s P-t -I"<em>. Weiss stood still, staring out at where an audience would have been. She took a deep breath, reached out and hit a button. Fast-paced music came out of the speakers, but Weiss had made it quieter so it wouldn't be heard. She could hear an electric guitar, and she sighed as she reached out, and clicked the button again, pausing the music.

"First.. Without music." She told herself, she nodded once and began tapping her foot to form a beat. _"I couldn't take it, couldn't stand another minute" _She sang slowly, but she groaned angrily. "No, it needs to be faster, a lot faster!" She scolded herself, and she groaned again. _"I couldn't take it, couldn't stand another minute. Couldn't stand another day without you in it." _She sang, faster than before, but her voice wobbled, and she paused. "Yes... That's the right speed. I just need to sing stronger." She told herself, her tone of voice kinder. _"All the joy that I'd known for all my life, was stripped away from me the minute that you died." _She sang, her eyes not leaving the sheet of paper once. "Yes!" She shouted with joy, throwing a fist into the air. "But I've still got the whole song to practice." She reminded herself, and she looked at the ground and stomped her foot angrily. "Oh, why is this so _hard_." Weiss complained with herself and she shook her head. "White Snow where are you know." She asked, looking around the room. "Oh! I know where, back with the company-written songs and audio-mixed music, that's where you are." Weiss said, and she forced the mic back into it's stand. "That'll be enough for one day. I better get back before they wonder where I am." She spoke to herself angrily, and she headed out of the hall. Ruby stepped out from the shadows, still staring at where Weiss had been standing a few minutes ago. Ruby stood still, her face held a look of shock.

"She... Sh-She... She's White Snow?" Asked herself confusedly, and she left the hall from the opposite direction while muttering to herself.

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah! New chapter, after how long... Uh, I don'know, a week or two? Sorry about that, but school has just restarted, so these'll come out commly as it is no longer my birthday, but slower than they did at first. Remember, constructive criticism is always useful!<br>**

**Stinger out!**


	14. Chapter 13: Are you kidding me?

**Remnant's Freelancers:**

* * *

><p>Ruby burst into their dorm room, only to see Yang asleep in her bunk, Blake reading a book and Weiss sitting on her bed studying. Ruby's eyes were still wide with surprise, and she was trying to hide the grin that was fighting it's way onto her face. However, she didn't win, and the grin sprang onto her face, causing Blake to give her a strange look. Weiss looked up from her book that she had been staring at.<p>

"Uh... Are you OK Ruby?" Weiss questioned her, and Ruby nodded nervously. "Are you sure?" Weiss asked agaiin, and Ruby gave her another nod.

"Yeah, I'm f-fine..." Ruby replied, stuttering on _'fine'_. Blake chuckled quietly, almost inaudibly. Ruby looked around, and instantly raced to her bunk and sat on it, causing it to creak violently. Ruby flinched, opened one eye, and say Weiss glaring at her angrily.

"You dolt. Do you _want _to break your bed again?" Weiss questioned angrily, pointing a finger at the red-clad team leader, who shook her head.

"N-N-No! I don't!" Ruby stammered, and Weiss' eyes narrowed as she looked at her inquisitively.

"Ruby? Are you _sure_ you're fine?" Blake started questioning her, and Ruby's head spun to look at her black-haired, quiet faunus teammate, and she nodded quickly. "Really, you don't _look_ fine." Blake told her, and Ruby looked at the floor.

"Uh... Just... Don't worry about it, it's nothing major..." Ruby said quietly, still looking at the floor. Weiss jumped off of her top bunk, and sat next to Ruby. She placed a hand on her team leader's shoulder, and Ruby looked up at her.

"Ruby, you can tell us anything." Weiss comforted her, and Ruby looked at Blake, who nodded in agreement with Weiss. _'Uh... What do I lie about... Um... Oh, I know.'_ Ruby thought to herself, and she brushed Weiss' hand off her shoulder.

"I'm just tired, that's all. Thanks for worrying though." Ruby lied to them, and she laid down on her bed. Weiss looked at her curiously, before climbing back onto her bunk.

"Ruby, just remember, you can tell us _anything_." Weiss reminded her, and Ruby nodded. Blake smiled at her when Ruby looked at her for guidance.

"Yes... Yes I know... Good night Weiss. Good night Blake." Ruby said, and she fell into a sudden, deep sleep.

* * *

><p>Ruby walked towards her mother's grave, kneeling next it when she reached it. In front of it a white, ghost-like cloak was floating, and suddenly it dissolved into a flurry of white petals. Ruby reached out and grabbed one of the petals, clasping it in her hand. The petal then turned red, and it grew into her trademark, rose-red cloak. She rapped it around heself after she realised she hadn't been wearing it. She felt a hand place itself onto her shoulder, and she spun around, drawing Crescent Rose in the process. However, when she turned around, no one was behind her. She looked around, confused, searching for any sign that she wasn't alone out with the grave.<p>

"_It'll be alright_..." She heard an echo of her dad's voice being carried on the wind. "_Ruby_!" She heard the echo of a young Yang, calling her name. "_The trick is to keep moving, to never stop and never lose momentum_." She heard part of a lecture her uncle Qrow had given her about how to wield scythe. "_Is that_ _you_?" Ruby heard an echo of herself, when she had found Yang at a nightclub, which had been destroyed by the latter. "_I'm. Not. Perfect_." Ruby heard Weiss that time, and Ruby fell to her knees. "_The real world isn't the same as a fairy tale_." She heard Blake tell her, and Ruby shook her head. "_Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet._" Jaune told her, and she nodded slowly. "_You.. Have_ s_ilver eyes._" She heard an echo of Ozpin, and she got back up. "_Isn't it past your bedtime_?" She heard and echo of Torchwick, and growled angrily. "_Just watch where you're going._" She heard a girl, Emerald, tell her and she shifted Crescent Rose into scythe mode. "_Don't worry, I'll come back. I always do, Rubes_." She heard her mother, the final words she had said to a six year-old Ruby. Ruby's eyes began to fill with tears, and she began to sob. She felt another hand place itself on her shoulder, and she turned slowly. She saw Yang standing behind her, and look of comfort radiating from her face.

"Don't worry Ruby." Yang comforted her, and Ruby gave her blonde sister a small smile.

"You can tell us anything Ruby." Weiss said, appearing behind Yang, and Ruby's smile grew larger. Ruby felt someone's arms wrap around her, and she saw Blake.

"We're here for you Ruby." Blake told her, and Ruby nodded.

"Thanks guys, that means a lot." She told them, and she heard someone talk from behind her.

"It's all thanks to you Ruby." Jaune told her, the rest of Team JNPR standing with him. She heard a metallic thud, and the tan Bluelyn hero appeared in the snow.

"Uh... Hey York, what're... What're you doing here?" Ruby asked him, and he unslung his weapon and aimed it at her. Ruby's eyes widened with shock, and she back away slightly.

"Wake up Ruby." He said in Weiss' voice and fired he at her, and then it all went from colored to black.

* * *

><p>Wash rolled to his left, dodging sniper rounds and explosives that were sent by Maine and Wyoming. He looked around the corner, and fired at Wyoming who dodged them expertly.<p>

"I could really use that backup right now!" Wash shouted down the comms channel, but heard nothing in response. "Hello?" He questioned, and he heard a buzz.

_"God Wash, shut up!"_ York told him, and Wash quietened. _"Thank you. Now see you in, three... Two...__" _York said over the comms channel.

"One!" Wash heard York shout, and he saw York jump off a building next him. "Hey there!" York greeted him, ducking under the incoming fire. "It looks like you've got yourself in a bad situation." York commented, and Wash glared at him unnoticably through his helmet.

"Where are the others?" Wash questioned York, who shrugged in response. "Oh that's great! Just great!" Wash shouted over the gunfire.

_"OK, initiating Pickup Protocol"_ Wash heard North over the comms channel, and Wash's face then held a confused look.

"What the in the world does that mean?" Wash started, but was cut off by a screaming South.

"Charge!" South exclaimed, riding on North shoulders. Wash's eyes widened under his helmet and he chuckled quietly.

"Oh, that's what that means." Wash spoke, and he looked to his right to York, who had disappeared. "Oh, come on!" Wash groaned, and fired another couple of bursts at the two Freelancers, Maine and Wyoming.

_"Woohoo!" _South shouted down the comms channel, causing Wash to try and cover his ears through his helmet.

_"Wash, move up!"_ Carolina ordered him, and Wash ran towards where the twins were fighting.

"Sorry we were a little late to the party." North apologised between gunshots, and Wash shook his head.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure it was just Epsilon's directions sucked." Wash replied, and Epsilon appeared next to him.

"Hey, my directions didn't suck. York just sucked at following my directions." Epsilon retorted angrily, and he disappeared again.

"Yeah, you better be happy York wasn't around to hear you say that." Wash told the AI, and the twins chuckled.

"Less talking more shooting, Wash." South reminded him, and he nodded. "Good, now forward brother!" South exclaimed, both her and her brother firing at the two hostile Freelancers.

_"On my mark, fire rapidly at them. Mark!"_ Carolina ordered them over the comms, and all three began firing non-stop. A woman carrying an umbrella jumped down infront of the two Freelancers, her umbrella blocking Wash's, North's, and South's bullets from hitting them. She was then followeed by an orange-haired, hat-wearing man.

"Oh hello, Bluelyn Heroes. I would like to stick around, but right now... I have other matters to attend to. So, until other times, ta-ra!" The man exclaimed, and all four of them, Maine, Wyoming, the Mystery Woman, and the Mystery Man vanished instantly.

"What! Where'd they go?" South questioned, and both York and Carolina ran up next to the remaining three.

"I guess that plan just _vanished_." York joked, earning a groan from the four other Freelancers, and a punch to the shoulder from Carolina.

"Stop making jokes York, they're horrible." Carolina told him, and began walking away. "Come on, I've got a way to track them." Carolina told them, and they followed her.

* * *

><p>"Wake up Ruby." Weiss said while she shook her leader, who then snapped to attention. She gasped when she saw her seve friends looking down at her. She then felt the air be pushed out of her when Yang pulled her out of her bed and into a fierce hug.<p>

"Don't _ever _do that again." Yang scolded the red reaper, who nodded slowly. Yang then let go of her and let out a smile. "Please... Don't." Yang said calmly, and grin spread onto Ruby's face.

"I won't Yang..." Ruby said with mock sadness in her voice. "Wait... Why are all of you here?" Ruby questioned, and the three members of Team RWBY exchanged looks with each other.

"Oh right... About that... You've kinda been alseep for... About two days..." Jaune told her nervously, and Ruby's eyes widened.

"What! H-H-How..." She asked confusedly, and all seven exchanged looks.

"We have no idea. It could be to do with anything, for any reason." Weiss answered her, and Ruby nodded slowly. "But it's good to have our leader back." Weiss told her, and Ruby smiled at her.

"Thanks guys..." Ruby told them, and Jaune smiled back at her.

"No, it's all thanks to you Ruby." Jaune told her kindly, and she looked at him, confused.

"What is?" Ruby asked, and the seven exchanged glances once again.

"It's thanks to you that we know how to take down Torckwick." Blake told her, and them Ruby's eyes lit up.

"Torchwick! Has he done anything in the two days I was out?" Ruby asked them, and Pyrrha nodded.

"Yes. He's got two new henchmen. They had a close encounter with the Heroes of Bluelyn." Pyrrha informed her, and Ruby's eyes widened.

"They attacked Wash and York?" Ruby asked them, and Team JNPR looked at her confused. "Oh right. We've met them! Their names are Wash, York, Carolina, South, and North!" Ruby exclaimed, and now Nora's eyes widened.

"Wait! You've met them?" Nora asked her, and Ruby nodded enthusiastically. "That is so _awesome_!" Nora exclaimed, giving Ruby a high five.

"Hey... Now that I'm awake... Can I get out of the bed?" Ruby asked them, and all seven took steps away from her bed. "Thank you." Ruby thanked them, and jumped off of her bunk. "So... You wanna go out and catch Torchwick?" Ruby asked them, and they all nodded. "Wow... No _'We need to find him's _or _'We're not ready'_s?" She asked surprised, and they all nodded again. "Good! Let's go. Team RWBY in Weiss' car, and Team JNPR in Pyrrha's car!" Ruby exclaimed, and they all headed out of the Team RWBY dorm room.

* * *

><p>Ruby jumped into the passenger seat of Weiss' car, bouncing up and down happily while she watch the garage's door open. Ruby heard Yang giggle from the seat behind her, and she turned to look at the blonde brawler, who was smiling widely at her. Ruby beamed back at her, causing the two sister's to chuckle. The driver-side door opened, and Weiss climbed into the blinding-white car, and revved the engine.<p>

"Are we all ready to go?" Weiss asked her three teammates, who nodded in response, Yang's nodded was over-enthusiastic. "OK, calm down Yang." Weiss told the brawler, who nodded slowly.

"Yes Weiss..." Yang said dejectedly, mocking sadness. Ruby looked out of their garage, and saw Pyrrha's car driving down the road.

"Onward, teammate Weiss!" Ruby shouted, pointing out of the garage, and Weiss' car drove smoothly out of the garage. Ruby pulled out her scroll, sliding along her contacts until she found Jaune. She tapped on the screen, and began to record a message.

* * *

><p>Jaune felt his scroll buzz in his pocket, and he pulled it out to see it's light blinking on and off. The icon showed he had gotten a new message, and he pulled it up. It was from Ruby, and it read:<p>

_To: J-Arc  
>From: R-Rose<br>Subject: Plans_

_"OK Jaune, you know the plan? Good, You, Weiss and I will go in through the front, with Yang and Nora following us. Blake, Pyrrha and Ren, however, will sneak in from the sides, cutting off the enemy, therefore stopping them from escaping. So, now you knowthe plan we ca-"_

_"Ruby! I'm trying to concentrate on the road, you talking isn't helping with that."  
><em>

_"Sorry Weiss..."_

The voice-message told him, and he nodded along to it. He heard Pyrrha chuckle from the driver's seat, and he looked up.

"You all heard that, right?" He asked them, and all three of them nodded in response. "Good. Now that's what we need to do when we get there, and you all know your roles, right?" He told them, following it up with a question.

"Yes Jaune, we heard and we all know our roles. Now, let's just focus on getting there first." Pyrrha replied kindly, and Jaune nodded slowly.

* * *

><p>Team RWBY's and JNPR's cars skidded to a halt in an alleyway, the two teams clambered out of their cars, a part from Weiss, who climbed out elegantly. Ruby jumped out, falling onto the floor. Yang chuckled at her younger sister, pointing at her whilst she laughed. Blake smirked while Jaune and Weiss both ran over to the red-clad girl.<p>

"You really should be more careful Ruby." Weiss scolded her leader, who nodded slowly, grabbing the heiress' petite hand.

"Yeah... You really should Ruby. I met you after you... Oh, you know... Exploded and almost killed both you and Weiss." Jaune told her, and she chuckled slightly.

"That's really comforting Jaune." Ruby replied jokingly, punching his shoulder playfully. "Is this it?" Ruby asked them, and Blake nodded in response.

"Yes. This is where I've seen Torchwick go in the last two days. So I'd guess so, yeah." Blake answered, and Ruby smiled grimly.

"Well. Let's get on with it then." Ruby told them, and they separated into their two teams. "OK, on my mark. I will tell us all to burst in. Yang, you're on '_lockpick' _duty." Ruby told them, telling Blake, Pyrrha and Ren over a scroll call. "OK... Three... Two... One... **Go!**" Ruby exclaimed, and Yang kicked the door open, and Nora jumped through the door with her hammer creating a rather large explosion when it hit the ground.

"Oh, you have _got _to be kidding me." Ruby heard a voice say from in front of her, and she looked up to see the five Freelancers, the one talking being Wash.

"What are _you_ doing here?" South asked, pointing at Weiss accusedly. Weiss looked at her in shock.

"We could ask _you _the same question?" Weiss retorted angrily, and South smirked as she put on her helmet.

"You couldn't even _try _to accomplish what we're about to do, kid." South replied, the smirk now hidden by her helmet. Weiss glared at her, and crossed her arms.

"Hmph. Try me." Weiss said angrily, her arms crossed, and South chuckled.

"Oh, trust me, I will." South replied, circling the heiress, who drew Myrtenaster.

"You two! Cut it out. We're here for Maine and Wyoming, not them South." Carolina ordered the two, who stopped and glared at the leading Freelancer, who walked away. "Come on, we've got a job to do." Carolina said, heading off from the other nine, the four Freelancers, Ruby, Jaune, Weiss, Nora and Yang.

* * *

><p>"OK... Three... Two... One... <strong>Go!<strong>" Ruby shouted at Team Two over her scroll, and the three jumped in through the window. Blake looked around, pointing Gambol Shroud around the room.

"It's clear, let's move up." Pyrrha told the other two, who nodded with agreement. The three opened a door slowly, and Pyrrha aimed Miló through the door, but the room was clear, and the three filed into it. Suddenly, Blake heard a movement to their left, and then she dodged a sniper round, which hit the floor where she was once standing. "Cover! Cover!" Pyrrha shouted, and the three ran for cover. Just as suddenly as the sniper round, a blue hologram appeared near Blake.

"Perhaps we could talk about this over a spot of coffee." The hologram said in a strange, robotic voice. Blake smirked, but shook her head. "That is most... Displeasing..." It siad before disappearing. Blake looked up, and saw a man in tin-silver armor run along the dark catwalk, and she grinned.

"Pyrrha. I know where he is. I think I can get him." Blake whispered to the green-eyed amazon, who smiled.

"Get him, Blake." The red-head replied, and Blake began to fire rapidly at the running soldier.

"Oh dear God!" She heard the soldier shouted, and she chuckled to herself. She ran across the room, to the otherside and cut off the soldier. "Oh... Hello there deary. It's just a... Misunderstanding, so if I could just be let go, that would be just jolly." The man told her, and she smirked.

"I don't think so, Tin Man." She named him, and he recoiled in surprise.

"Well. The hard way it is then." Tin Man said, and threw a punch at Blake.

* * *

><p><strong>DUUUUNNN! Suspense, yeah, and released early, that means more time for chapters fourteen and fifteen, the <em>real big battle<em> between Torchwick and The Freelancers and Teams RWBY and JNPR! If you want more content, think about looking at stories New Beginnings, Ruby Rose: The One who Ran by Lord Revan Flame or Weiss Reacts by ElfCollaborator. And remember, constructive criticism is always useful!  
><strong>

**Stinger Out!**


	15. Chapter 14: The Battles

**Remnant's Freelancers**

* * *

><p>"Carolina, wait." York called out to the aqua Freelancer, who turned to look at him. "They can help us. I mean... They figured out where this hideout was, so surely, they must have <em>some<em> skills." York convinced the other Freelancer, much to the dismay of South.

"Yeah... Yeah we can help. In fact! I've got a plan." Ruby added, a large grin on her face. Carolina's eyes narrowed under her helmet, and she looked at the red-clad scythe-wielder intently. "So... There's five of you and five of us, so that means it's five pairs of two." Ruby said matter-of-factly.

"Why five?" Weiss questioned her leader. Ruby smiled grimly in response.

"Well... We're here for Torchwick, that's one. They're here for two others, that's three. I saw he had another henchman when I stopped him at the dust store, so that's four. And one pair to hold off any White Fang who try to attack us, which makes five." Ruby answered, and Weiss nodded with agreement.

"But who's gonna go with who?" Yang asked, and Ruby's face lit up.

"Hey, York. Who are your best fighters?" Ruby asked the tan-armored Freelancer.

"Uh... I remember correctly, our best fighter was Tex... But she's not here so I'd have to say Carolina's our best fighter." York replied to the red-clad huntress-in-training.

"Yes... I guess you could say that." Carolina said, a small grin hidden by her helmet.

"So I guess I'll go with 'Lina. Yang can go with York. Jaune go with Wash. Nora can go with North. And Weiss can go with South." Ruby told them, and Weiss' eyes widened.

South looked around the room, confused. "Who's Weiss?" South asked Ruby, and Ruby giggled quietly when she pointed to the Schnee-Company-heirees, and South's face fell under her helmet. "Oh you have _got_ to be fucking kidding me!" South exclaimed as she looked at the white-haired huntress-in-training, who was glaring abck at her.

"Why Ruby?" Weiss questioned her red-clad team leader, who was giggling quietly to herself.

* * *

><p>"Well. The hard way it is then." Wyoming said, and he punched the black-haired girl in the stomach, sending her flying backwards, and she let out an <em>'oof'<em>. "Heh heh." Wyoming chuckled quietly, and he ducked when another gunshot sounded from behind him. "Ah! Who's there?" He shouted, pointing his SRS99 infront of him as he spun around. "Hmm... Come on out mate." He said as he walked slowly past the collection of crates, failing to notice a red-headed girl hiding behind them. The girl leapt from over the crates, her gold and red sword surrounded in a pulsating black light.

"Hyaah!" Pyrrha exclaimed as she swang her Xiphos at the Freelancer, who dodged the weapon with lightning speed.

"Wah!" Wyoming let out his surprised cry as he turned to face the red-headed Amazon. Suddenly, a green-clad boy burst out from behind the crates, with an emerald-green submachine-gun in each hand. Wyoming rolled, dodging the boy's volley of bullets. Blake slowly refound her feet, clutching her stomach. She then unsheathed Gambol Shroud and sprinted toward the silver-armored Freelancer. Pyrrha grabbed Akoúo̱ off of her back and threw it at Wyoming. The shield let off a clank as it hit his head, and it returned to Pyrrha's expert grasp. He let out an _'oof'_ and he spun to see the two girls looking at him angrily. He readied his SRS99 and aimed at the two girls. Pyrrha rolled behind the crates once again, but Blake stood still, a grim smile on her face. Under his helmet, Wyoming grinned, and he fired at Blake, but then, the shadow-clone disappeared and Blake jumped above where she had once stood. Wyoming's eyes widened under his helmet as he saw the girl flying towards him, her sword drawn. Blake brought Gambol Shroud down, only to have it be blocked by Wyoming's sniper rifle. "Ha ha." Wyoming joked, and he tried to kick the black-haired girl, but hit the thin air where she had once been. He looked up, and saw the girl descending onto him once again.

* * *

><p>Blake crashed into the Freelancer, knocking him to the ground, knocking him unconscious.<p>

"Who's laughing now?" She questioned the unconscious Freelancer, smirking. Both Pyrrha and Ren walked over to her, one of them on either side, and the usually unsociable girl gave the two high-fives.

"So. What now?" Ren asked, and Blake shrugged in response.

"I guess we wait for the others." Pyrrha answered, sitting on a nearby crate, brushing dust off of her armor. Blake and Ren sat next to the red-headed Amazon, and they exchanged glances with each other.

"Hey." Ren said, and the two girls looked at him curiously.

"Yeah?" The other two replied simultaneously.

"Have you ever wond-" Ren started, but was cut off by Yang flying through the wall.

"No time, let's move!" Blake shouted, jumping through the hole Yang had, intentionally or not, and most likely the latter, just created. Ren sighed as he got up, Pyrrha following suit quickly after him.

* * *

><p>York followed Yang as she headed through a door, and her eyes widened as she saw a rather large man in a full set of armor.<p>

"Oh great. It _had_ to be Maine." York groaned, and Yang's eyes darted to him.

"You don't sound happy. Why?" Yang asked the Freelancer, confusion noticeable in her voice.

"Nope. Not happy." York said, and he readied his M90, aiming at Maine, who had now noticed the two. "Uh oh." York said, as Maine suddenly charged at them, grabbing his weapon off of his back. Maine began firing his weapon, and the ground around the two began to light up with explosions.

"Oh! You like explosions? I'll show you explosions!" Yang exclaimed, readying her gauntlets. She fired at the charging Freelancer, causing the ground on either side began to explode.

"Really? _I_ get the two explodey ones!" York questioned no-one angrily, and ran towards Maine. He fired his M90, hitting the burly Freelancer square in the chest. "Oh you can take that but you can't take one punch from Tex? God damn!" York exclaimed, and flew back as he was rammed by Maine. Yang's eyes widened as she saw that the over-sized Freelancer wasn't stopping, and Maine crashed full-speed into her, sending her flying through the wall behind her. Yang watched dazed as Blake, Ren and Pyrrha jumped through the hole that was now in the wall. Yang stood up groggily, steading herself by leaning on one of the nearby crates. Yang reloaded Ember Celica, and readied the two gauntlets before following her three friends through the hole in the wall.

* * *

><p>Ruby stopped at the door, waiting for her Freelancer partner to catch up with her. After a few seconds, Carolina was next to the red-clad girl, leaning against the wall.<p>

"So what now?" Ruby asked the aqua-armored Freelancer, who pointed to the door. "Aah... OK." Ruby said, and Carolina turned to the door, kicking it off of it's hinges. Ruby then flew through the door, leaving a trail of rose petals in her wake. Carolina blinked in confusion, and ran in after her, her M6H scanning the room. She saw Ruby at the back of the room, her Crescent Rose aimed at the next door, her finger stroking the trigger.

"He's in here." Ruby told Carolina quietly, looking down Crescent Rose's scope.

"How are you sure?" Carolina asked the red-clad girl, who smirked slightly.

"I saw him go through the door." Ruby replied matter-of-factly, the smirk not leaving her face, and she fired Crescent Rose, shattering the wooden door. Carolina grinned under her helmet, and burst through the doorframe. On the other side, Roman Torchwick had been standing next to a nearby Bullhead, leaning on it, swinging his cane in circles. When Ruby and Carolina burst through the door, he smiled slightly.

"Ladies, you're late. I expected you to be much faster." He commented. "Especially you and your reputation." He said as he pointed at Carolina. Carolina reeled back slightly, obviously shocked.

"How... How do you know that?" She questioned him, and the criminal chuckled.

"Oh, your friends have told me all about you, and the other four." Roman replied, the small grin on his face widening slightly. "Oh, and if your here for me... Well then, you've got another thing coming for you." Roman told them, and chuckled maniacally as two people stepped out from behind him. A girl with light-green hair and dark skin, wielding to flintlock pistols that seemed to have blades attached to them, and a boy with silver-gray hair and tanned-white skin, who seemed to wield no weapons. "Emerald, Mercury, meet Red and Agent Carolina. You two, meet Emerald and Mercury." Roman joked with the pair, who exchanged glances with each other. Roman aimed his cane at the two. "Oh, let's just get this over with." He muttered, and he fired at the Freelancer and the huntress-in-training.

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><p>"Hey could you be quiet for a moment, I'm trying to think." Weiss told South, who grunted in response. "Come on, we're moving again." Weiss ordered South, who stood up and towered over the Schnee-heiress.<p>

"I've been wondering, who put _you_ in charge." South questioned Weiss angrily, and the white-haired girl turned back to face the Freelancer.

"_I've _put myself in charge as _you_ don't seem to be doing anything useful." Weiss retorted, equally angrily, and she turned on her heel. "So _come on_, I said we're moving." Weiss, once again, ordered the Freelancer, who huffed and followed the huntress-in-training. South reached for her dual M7 submachine-guns, grabbing on in each hand. South walked over to a door, kicking open, creating a loud bang that seemingly rang around the entire building. "I see subtlety is your strong suit." Weiss commented, and South growled at her.

"I'm sorry if I can't pick a lock. Our designated _locksmith_ barely can." South angrily replied, emphasising the word _'locksmith'_. Weiss walked calmly through the no-longer-there door, Myrtenaster in her left hand aimed ahead of her. "Oh _come on_." South groaned when she saw a rather large group of White Fang members.

"Stop moaning, we have to deal with them." Weiss told South, who nodded slowly. On the left, a door slowly slides open, revealing a large suit of robotic armor.

"Oh _fucking _great! This is _just _great!" South exclaimed angrily as the mech clanked into the room, and turned to face them. Weiss looked around the room, a plan forming in her mind.

"I think I could take about fifty of them, maybe sixty, what about you?" Weiss said, scanning the room. Under her helmet, South's face fell.

**_Flashback Starts_**

_North and South ran to the helipad, and saw they were surrounded by Bjørndal Cryogenics guards, and a Resistence member._

_"Eh, I think I take about fifty of 'em. How 'bout you?" South joked with her brother, North._

_"How about you save your jokes until we get outta this?" North replied_

_"Attention assholes, stand down! You're surrounded! Give us the data file now! You will be taken into custody! We can do this the easy way or the hard way! There is no escape, so give us the damn data file!" The Resistence member shouted, unknown to him, Carolina was waiting for the right time to strike behind him._

**_Flashback Ends_**

South shook her head, and realised she had been thrown against the wall, and had been seemingly unconscious. She stood up slowly, picking up the two M7's she had dropped.

"What are you _doing_!" Weiss exclaimed as she fought against the mech and many White Fang members. "Come and help me!" The heiress shouted at the Freelancer, and South ran towards where Weiss was fighting. The mech then kicked Weiss, sending her flying into South, and the two crashed across the room. "Do you _know_ what help _me__ans_?" Weiss angrily questioned, but didn't receive an answer, as South then charged at the mech. South jumped, enabling her grav-boots, and she began shooting the mech, and it tried desperately to get the Freelancer off of it, but to no avail. Weiss then ran into help the Freelancer, who was repeatedly shooting the mech. Inside of the mech, a White Fang soldier was shielding himself as a hail of bullets tore through the Atlesian Paladin's armor. South chuckled quietly as the mech flailed, struggling to throw her off. Weiss leaped off of the ground, jamming Myrtenaster through the bullet-riddled armor, piercing the pilot's shoulder. The man let out a earsplitting scream, and he cradled his wounded shoulder, letting out screams of pain.

"How does that feel, you _bitch_." South muttered under her breath, walking away from the now immobile mech. Weiss pulled her rapier, grimacing when she saw the blood that was dripping off of the blade. To the two's left, a door was kicked open by more of the White Fang. "Oh give me a _fucking break_!" South exclaimed as she watched more soldiers pour through the door. The Freelancer charged at the group, firing her M7's at the soldiers, tearing through their flesh and splattering blood across the floor. Weiss, still grimacing at the sight of blood, followed the purple-armored Freelancer, attacking White Fang, dancing around them elegantly as she struck them. Weiss loaded her Freeze dust, and stabbed Myrtenaster into the ground, creating a field of ice. The White Fang soldiers then began to slip and slide, which in turn made it easier for South to tear through them.

* * *

><p>Ruby rolled left as she dodged the explosion caused by Torchwick. To her right, Carolina had done the same, and was now holding of both Emerald and Mercury. Ruby looked over at Carolina, and then back to Roman, who was now fleeing the room once again. She then ran after the redheaded criminal, following him with Crescent Rose drawn.<p>

"Oh Red, what are you _doing_?" Roman's voice rang out, echoing around the room. A loud whistle, and then Ruby is knocked off of her feet by another explosion. Face down on the floor, Ruby starts to push herself up, until she feels the barrel of a gun placed on the back of her head. "OK Red, I've got a deal for you." Roman tells her calmly, not moving his cane from the back of her head. "You agree to let me leave this place without any resistance from you, and _I_ don't have to blow your brains out. It's a win-win scenario, you know." Torchwick informed, her and she turns herself over to look at him.

"And if I don't agree?" She replies, looking at him. Roman then thinks for a moment.

"Well then. I'll just have shoot you." He said, before smiling at her grimly. Ruby grins, and rolls to her right, grabbing Crescent Rose as she did so. Roman's grim smile turned to a frown, as he began firing at the young, huntress-to-be. Ruby aimed her scythe down and fired, the recoil sending her high into the air. Torchwick then sighed angrily, shooting rapidly at the huntress-in-training, but she expertly dodged every shot. Ruby then charged at Torchwick, swing her scythe swiftly at the redheaded criminal, who jumped away from the blade. Roman grinned slightly as Ruby charged head on at him once more, scythe raised. She slashes at him, but he spins around the blade, dodged her attack once more, and hitting her hard over the head with his cane. Ruby fell to the floor, barely conscious, unable to lift herself off of the ground. She heard Roman's voice from above her. "Well Red, as much as I'd like to stay and chat, I have larger matters to attend to." Roman's voice told her, sounding like it had came from all around her, before disappearing into the darkness of the storage room. Ruby felt a warm taste in her mouth, and the world around her turned black.

* * *

><p>North watched as the energetic, hammer-wielding ginger attacked the crowd of soldiers, sending them flying. Chuckling, he just stared at the White Fang, who were now fleeing from the insane, hammer-wielder. North then noticed a slight movement in the shadows behind them, and grabbed his SRS99 and looked down the sight at where he had seen the shadow. He saw nothing, shrugged and went back to watching Nora annihilate the soldiers. She the switched the hammer to it's grenade launcher form, and fired at the fleeing White Fang soldier. However, the grenade was stopped in midair by a woman wielding an umbrella. Nora frowned when she saw this, and then fired at the mysterious woman, who, once again, blocked the grenade with her umbrella.<p>

"Huh?" North said as he picked up his sniper, aiming at the woman's leg. He fired, but the woman then jumped out of the bullet's path, and it then embedded into the ground. "Oh, a good fight now? Good, some action." North muttered to himself as he began to fuire rapidly at the woman, who was dodging his volley of bullets perfectly. Nora began to fire grenades at her, bu still to no avail, not one of them hit. The end of her umbrella began to glow, and a glowing blue dust bolt shot out of the end. "Theta!" North shouted, and his dome shield appeared around him, protecting him from the bolt. North's eyes widened when he saw half the dome was now covered in ice. "OK, we got ourselves an ice lady, good to know." North told himself before deactivating the shield. "OK, I've got this." North told himself before his body became surrounded in a purple glow. Then, a small, purple disk appeared in North's hand, and he then ran around to rthe other side of the ice half-sphere are threw it at the woman, who was to busy with Nora to dodge the disk, and it collided with her head, causing her to fall to the floor.

"Woohoo!" Nora exclaimed, throwing her fist into the air in triumph. "High Five!" Nora told North, who gave her, an incredibly light, high five.

* * *

><p><em>'Ruby..?' <em>The red-clad huntress-in-training heard faintly, unable to tell who had spoken. _'Ruby..?' _They said again, and Ruby felt herself being shook.

"**Ruby Rose, wake up this _very _second**!" Ruby heard Weiss scream, and Ruby burst back into life.

"Aah! I'm up! I'm up!" Ruby replied, just as loud as Weiss had been. When she sat up, she saw the three other members of Teamm RWBY and Team JNPR looking down at her. "Uh... What?" She asked innocently, earning a slight chuckle from her blonde sister.

"Do you have any idea how worried we all were?" Weiss asked her angrily, poking her chest accusingly.

"Uh..." Ruby groaned, and rubbed her eyes. "Where are we?" Ruby asked the seven, at the back, Yang face-palmed.

"We're at Beacon you _dolt_." Weiss huffed angrily, and she turned away from her red-clad leader.

"Oh. I... Uh..." Ruby started, but was unable to finish. "Um... Don't we have classes?" Ruby said, and all seven pairs of eyes widened.

"Uh oh!" The remaining seven said simultaneously, and they ran out the door, all a part from Weiss.

"You're discharged from classes for today, Professor Ozpin told me." Weiss told her before running after the others.

"So what am I gonna do today?" Ruby whined, before laying back down on her bed.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey! I'm not dead. Well, I don't think so, I may be dead. You never know. But anyways, I'm sorry this took so long, but when I finished Chapter 13, school started, and I haven't had the time because of, *dejected sigh*, homework. So, Chapter 15 may take a while to, so don't expect to come out anytime soon. But, do remember that constructive criticism is always useful! New Story on my FictionPress account ColonelShaid, so check that out!<strong>

**Stinger out!**

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><p><strong>Phantom:<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**This will be based off of a concept I had a year or so back, and this preview will dive into the shallow basics of the plot. So I hope you enjoy, and remember that constructive criticism is always useful.**

* * *

><p>A crisp, autumnal breeze blew through the air, with a hint of chemicals mixed in with it. The laboratory I could see glowing in the distance was almost definitely the cause. I grimaced, knowing what was taking place there. The few trees that were scattered around provide good cover, and are called Summer Round-leaves, broad-trunked and tall deciduous trees with red-gold leaves. Summer Round-leaves are only native to this very area, as they were made in that no-so-far-away lab. What was I doing there, on privatised land, I hear you ask. Well, that's a story for another day isn't it. Let's finish this one first, eh? It only took me a couple of minutes to reach the lab, and I was easily close enough to see the insignia painted onto the lab's white, metallic wall. Phoenix Industries, or as I call them, Phoenix Genetics. The all-to-familiar smell of blood and drugs filled my nostrils once more, and I stood still against the wall, taking a quick look around of this specific compound. It was pretty basic compared to most of the urban ones, only a handful of guards and an almost square lab, this is <em>way <em>below their usual standards. Sneaking past the few guards there were, I find the door. Obviously it's locked, so what do I do. I knock. I knocked on the door of a lab in private land. Thee door opens, to reveal a lab coat wearing scientist, who was shakily holding a pistol.

H-H-Hello?" The man stutters, his eyes flicking around. "C-Come out. I'm a-armed." He threatens with a voice full of fear. I roll my eyes, and walk out from behind the door. The man's eyes widen when he sees me, as if he'd seen a _ghost. _Oh, I've got it!

"Boo, I'm a mother fucking ghost!" I say, and the scientist's eyes widen even further, and he then collapsed. "Huh? That was easier than expected." I say as I grab the pistol out of his hand. I push open a door, to find many vials of many _precious_ substances, and I grin maniacally. "And what would these be?" I ask myself as I walk over to check the labelled vials. "Rerid, Caplan, Axin, Lecelin." I read out loud, but my blood freezes when I reach the final vial. It is labeled _'Cobanis'_. "OK, time to leave now." I tell myself, and walk swiftly back to where I had entered. I clutch the vial in my hand, fleeing from the lab that I had, get used to it, just robbed. I turn to look back at the lab, a smirk on my face, and then I turn around once again, and begin to sprint away from the cliffside laboratory.

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><p><strong>Huzzah! This is the previewtrailer of my first upcoming story, so stay tuned, and remember that constructive criticism is always useful!**

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><p><strong><em>Phoenix Industries Profiling:<em>**

_Name: **Classified**_

_Gender: Female_

_Height: 5ft 7in_

_Eye Colour: Hazel_

_Hair Colour: Chocolate Brown_

_Blood Type: O- (O Negative)_

_Designation: Epsilon Sigma_

_Containment Facility: **Classified**_

_Type: **Classified**_

_Signed,_

_The Chairman of Phoenix Industries_

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><p><em><strong>And that was the preview for my new FictionPress called Phantom, which should be on my FFictionPress account ColonelShaid!<strong>_

_**Anyways, Stinger's out again!**_


	16. Chapter 15: Welcome Back

**Remnant's Freelancers:**

* * *

><p>Ruby paced around the dorm room, bored out of her mind with nothing to do. She groaned as she finished another lap of their dorm room, unable conjure up an idea on what she could do with the day. She threw herself up onto her bunk, resulting in a gut-wrenching creak to come from the delicately crafted ropes holding up the bed.<p>

"What to do? What to do?" She muttered, laying down and staring blankly at the ceiling. "I wish I knew how to drive." She grumbled to herself as she jumped off of her bed to stare out of the window. She sighed as she watched a small group of people practising with their weapons on training dummies. "Ah ha." She said merrily, and large grin on her face as she grabbed Crescent Rose off of her bed, and swiftly disappeared out of the door.

* * *

><p>Wash looked at North blankly, clearly unimpressed.<p>

"So, you have like, what, a weaponised frisbee or something?" Wash questioned the small, glowing purple disk North held in his hand.

"Well now that you say it like that, then yes." North replied calmly, creating another disk in his left hand. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask. Are starting to, you know, run low on ammo?" North asked the other Freelancer, who's eyes then widened.

"Well, yeah, obviously. But we have a few extras, right." Wash answered unsurely, now holding his Battle Rifle in his hand.

"Of course we do, but what happens when we do run out?" North told the steel-armored Freelancer with a look of worry. Wash shrugged, not caring about what would happen, and walked away from the purple Freelancer. North sighed, looking over his SRS99 Sniper Rifle.

"I don't know, I guess we'll find out when it happens." Wash replied from the door, looking back at his fellow Freelancer before exiting the room.

* * *

><p>Delta examined the computer screen, the flashing green light illuminating the room. It had been confusing, but had been able to interface with it, accessing the information stored inside of it's hard drives.<p>

"Hello?" Delta spoke to the computer, watching it calmly blink. Delta scanned the information coming from it, the data garbled between being about a small planet named Remnant, and changing to information on Project Freelancer and it's Agents. "Hello?" He asked it again, only to receive the obvious answer, silence. He did found a small lump of information locked under high security, and that had now stolen his attention. Even being the AI of analysis, it still took awhile to crack all of the codes and pass through the security measures. "Hmm. This is... Interesting." He said, reading the newly found files. He then heard a small buzz and a crackle.

_"**Log One.**"_ A voice said calmly , surprising the usually stoic AI fragment.

* * *

><p>Ruby strolled over to the training dummies, unfolding Crescent Rose as she did so. She smiled as she took her place in front of the dummy, readying Crescent Rose. She swung her scythe, stabbing the blade into the ground, aiming at, and she fired at the dummy ahead of her. She watched with glee as the bullets tore straight into the centre of the Grimm-Shaped dummy, no shot straying even once.<p>

"Yeh-heah!" Ruby exclaimed, startling the other students, and Ruby then clamped a hand over her mouth. She took her hand off, smiling joyfully at the others, who just turned back to training. "Their worse than Weiss." Ruby muttered to herself, before feeling a hand be placed on her shoulder.

"That's not a very kind thing to say." Weiss said from Ruby's left, causing the smaller, cape-wearing girl to jolt forwards, away from where Weiss' voice had came from.

"Aah, Weiss when'd you get here!" Ruby shouted once again, and again drawing the attention of the other students. Weiss gave her a quick _'shush' _before Ruby nodded slowly. "But... Why are you here?" Ruby asked her partner curiously, cocking her head to the side.

"I've got a free period." Weiss said, pulling out a small, white timetable. Ruby frowned, reading the sheet of paper in front of her.

"Ooh." Ruby said quietly, pulling herself away from the piece of paper. "So you, what, came down here to practice, or something?" Ruby questioned, pulling her scythe out of the ground.

"No actually, when Blake, Yang and I got back to the dorm, we were surprised to find you had disappeared, so we decided to each search the grounds for you. And here you are." Weiss informed her red-clad leader, who was nodding along with the extremely-short story Weiss had just finished. "Oh. That reminds me, Blake and Yang asked me to tell them when I found you. Uh... Just a minute." Weiss said as she pulled out her scroll, putting it against her ear. "Hello, Yang? Yes, it _is _me. Wait, is that Blake I heard, why is she there? Oh, OK. No, I'm not lost, thank you Xiao Long. Yes, I did find her Yang. We're by the training zone. Yes, I will. Goodbye Yang." Weiss spoke to the blonde, then putting her scroll back in her pocket.

"What'd she say?" Ruby asked her white-haired partner, who sighed.

"What do you want, the whole conversation?" Weiss replied sarcastically, but Ruby enthusiastically nodded, causing the white-haired girl to sigh again.

"OK, listen _carefully_ Ruby. Yang asked if it was me, then told me that she had ran into Bnlake while they were looking for you. Then if I was lost, like I would get lost, and then I told her where we were. Then we said goodbye. Did you get any of that?" Weiss huffed, spewing out her words faster than Ruby could run, and then took a deep breath.

"Uh... Yeah?" Ruby replied unsurely, looking around the open grounds. The team leader then spotted her blonde sister running full pelt at her, her arms open wide. "Uh oh." Ruby squeaked before being crushed by a large mound of blonde hair.

"I thought we told you not yo run off like that again." Yang scolded her after they had both gotten up off of the floor, and crushed her in yet another bone-breaking hug.

"Uh... Yang... Can't... Can't breathe..." Ruby croaked from the terrifying blonde's grip. Yang released the younger sibling, and Ruby took in a large gasp of air. She kept gasping for around another five seconds before stopping when she noticed the worried look on her sister's face.

"Oh. Are... Are you OK. I didn't mean to hurt you." Yang blurted worridly, her eyes narrowed with concern.

"No Yang. I'm fine, I'm fine." Ruby replied just as fast, and Weiss looked at the two sisters, her face holding a look of confusion.

"Do you two always talk so fast when you speak to each other?" Weiss questioned them slowly, and the siblings exchanged glances with each other.

"Yeah I guess so." Yang replied, now at her normal speed. "I guess I just learnt to keep up with Ruby's motor mouth here." Yang joked, nudging her sister's side.

"Heeeey." Ruby whined, pouting at her sister. Ruby then took a look around. "Uh Yang?" Ruby said questioningly.

"Yeah sis?" The blonde brawler replied, looking at her red-clad, cape-wearing sister.

"Where's Blake?" Ruby finished, and Yang's eyes widened.

* * *

><p>"Yang! Yang where did you go!" Blake called out, looking for the blonde who had suddenly disappeared after receiving a call from Weiss. Blake sighed quietly, scanning the horizon for her yellow-haired friend. Blake pulled out her scroll, looking at the comically timed powerless device. She groaned with despair as she plonked herself down onto a bench, causing the bench to creak from the sudden impact of an adolescent faunus. Blake stared at her scroll's black screen, willing for it to turn back on. But to no avail, and she slowly put the device back into her pocket. She felt her cat ears twitching under her bow, and she could hear a faint <em>'Blaaake' <em>coming from the distance. Her ears perked up, and she threw herself off of the bench, which then cracked back into place. "Yang!" The faunus shouted back, she could now hear the clatter of feet slapping against the paved ground. She saw the blonde coming running at her, charging full speed.

"Blake look out!" Ruby cried out to her cat-eared faunus-friend, but was too late as Blake was lifted off of her feet in one of Yang's signature hugs. Blake felt the air get thrown out of her lungs as Yang's arms crushed her.

"OK... Yang... You can let... Let go now..." Blake said, coughing between breaths. Yang dropped the faunus, who landed arse-first onto the floor.

"Huh... I though cats always landed on their feet, Blake." Yang joked with the black-haired faunus, who scowled back at the blonde.

"Not funny Yang." Blake replied angrily, her arms folded. "Hey Ruby." Blake called out to her younger friend, who smiled at her and waved back.

"Soooooo guys, what do ya' wanna do?" Yang asked slowly sitting down on a bench. Blake shrugged, taking a seat next to her blonde partner, while Weiss and Ruby walked over to them, conversing between each other. "As I said, what do you wanna do?" Yang repeated when the two final members of their team finally reached them.

"I don't know." Ruby replied blandly, sitting down next to her older sister. Yang groaned with despair as she heard her sister answer her question.

"We could prepare for the combat exam tomorrow?" Weiss suggested, earning a snort Yang.

"Oh come on princess, we all know we don't need any practice." Yang replied jokingly, receiving a scowl from the heiress. Blake elbowed the blonde, who jumped slightly from the shock. "OK, maybe we need a _little bit _of practice." Yang said, sighing in defeat, which caused the cat-faunus to smirk.

"Well. Let's get to it then." Weiss told her three teammates, who stood up from the bench they had been, rather precariously, sitting on.

* * *

><p>"Hey Delta, what you doing in here?" Delta heard Carolina's voice from the door. The bright-green AI turned to look at the aqua-colored Freelancer.<p>

"Oh, hello Agent Carolina, I did not hear you come in." The fragment replied calmly, hovering in front of the computer screen.

"What you got there Delta?" Carolina questioned the AI fragment, who turned back to the computer screen.

"I was merely analyzing the information this computing device has on this planet." The AI answered emotionlessly, Delta's image had been slightly faded, but was starting to brighten. "Agent York is heading back now." Delta informed the Freelancer, who shook her head.

"Thanks anyways Delta." Carolina replied, before heading into her room. Delta once again turned back to the screen.

"You wanted to talk, so you may begin now." Delta spoke to the blinking screen, which was illuminating the room.

* * *

><p><strong>Heeeeeeeeey! Act One: New Freelancers, story ark is finished, each Act will be around fifteen to twenty chapters long, and every final chapter will be around this long. Act Two will hopefully be soon, and will be Act Two: Rise. Feel free to ask questions about the story, and send suggestions on what could happen. And remember that constructive criticism will always be useful!<strong>

**Stinger out!**


	17. Epilogue Chapter 1

**Remnant's Freelancers:**

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><p>It had been a few weeks since the Freelancers and Teams RWBY and JNPR stopped the criminal Roman Torchwick and, their fellow Freelancers, Maine and Wyoming. The Freelancers were, in fact, starting to run low on ammo for their weapons. With no way to restock, and after the fact Wash had seen dozens of the <em>insane <em>weapons carried by these people. York and North had taken it upon ththemselves to find a decent weaponsmith. And they found no better people to ask than their newest friends, the members of Team RWBY.

"So, what do we ask when we get there?" North asked his tan-armored friend, who shrugged in his armor.

"I don't know, we just ask I guess." York replied unsurely, shrugging again. North sighed, and looked around suddenly.

"How do you know where we're going?" He questioned, before York smirked at him.

"Delta found a map in the computer back at the girls' place, he's got us a GPS." York informed the purple-armored Freelancer, who still looked confused.

"How'd he get access to their satellite network?" He questioned once again, and York chuckled.

"With blood, sweat and tears. And a little bit of hacking." He joked, a smile on his face. North just chuckled lightly, before he began to follow York for a second time.

* * *

><p>Ruby was sat on a chair, behind a desk, in Professor Port's Grimm Studies class. Her head was resting on her hand, which was curled up into a fist. She watched a holographic clock in front of her, slowly ticking down.<p>

"And as I grabbed the Ursa with my very bare hands, I threw it across the clearing and..." He started but was cut off by the lesson-ending bell, and then Ruby dashing out of the classroom. "Ah, I believe that story's ending will have to be told next time. Class dismissed." He said, failing to notice the fact that almost half of his class had already left the room. Weiss sighed as she walked out of the room, with Yang and Blake talking behind her inaudibly.

"I'm going to the dorm, I'mma little tired, see you guys." Yang said, stretching her arms and yawning. Blake waved the blonde goodbye, before turning to Weiss.

"What do you want to do now, Blake?" Weiss asked, before seeing Blake sitting on a chair, pulling a book out of her bag. "Is that _all _you ever do?" Weiss questioned exasperatedly, throwing her arms out. Blake shrugged, and opened the book to the first page. "You are _hopeless_, Belladonna." Weiss huffed, before following their bright-yellow-haired teammate to their dorm. Blake smirked, stood up, and followed her final team member.

* * *

><p>Yang walked into their dorm to see Ruby snoring in her bed, already fast asleep. Yang chuckled to herself quietly, looking at her sleeping-silently younger sister.<p>

"God Rubes, and I thought _I _found Port's lectures boring." Yang joked, almost silently, climbing up to her bunk. After a couple of minutes, Weiss burst through the door, Blake following her with a foot or so gap between them. "Oh thank God you guys are here. I thought I was gonna die of boredom." Yang exclaimed as the two entered the room.

"If you're, why aren't you playing with Ruby?" Weiss questioned, before seeing Yang gesture to the unmoving feature in Ruby's bed. "Ah, I see." Was all Weiss said in response before she headed to her bed.

"Wait, what you doing?" Yang questioned quietly, trying to not disturb the red-clad in the bunk across from her.

"I'm going to study." Weiss replied matter-of-factly, earning a groan from Yang.

"Why do you gotta be so boring, Ice Queen." Yang groaned, laying back on her bunk, causing Weiss to sigh.

"I'm not _'being boring'_. I'm being smart." She responded, earning yet another groan from Yang.

"Blaaaaaaake, a little help here." Yang pleaded the faunus, who sighed in response, and sat down on her bunk underneath Yang's. "Aaaaaw Blaaake, come on." Yang moaned sadly, watching her faunus-friend take her seat. Yang heard Blake turn a page of her book, and jumped off of the bunk. "You know what, not tired anymore, bye guys." Yang said, before walking out of the door, leaving the monochrome pair alone, with their red-clad leader fast asleep in the bunk above Weiss. Above her, Ruby seemed to be having a not-so-kind dream. From the her bunk, all Weiss could hear was the creaks and groans Ruby's bed was making as she tossed and turned in her duvet.

"Do you think we should wake her?" Blake asked her white-haired teammate, surprising her. Weiss, took a quick look at her leader, before nodding.

"Yes... Yes, I think we should." Weiss replied calmly, standing up from her bed, and poking her head over to look at Ruby. Ruby was muttering something inaudibly to herself while she slept, and Weiss watched as she threw herself around the bed. "Uh... Ruby?" Weiss asked as she shook her teammate's shoulder, but got no reaction. "She better not make me do this again." Weiss mutter to herself as she started to shake Ruby harder. Ruby mutterings began to become slightly more understandable.

"...Why di... Tice m..." Ruby's words were slurred, and mildly understandable. Weiss sighed, and opened her mouth to call to her leader once more. "Notice me... Please... Just one time..." Ruby said, her words fully understandable now, and that caused Weiss' eyes to widen. "Ruby. Wake up Ruby." Weiss pleaded with her sleeping team leader. Ruby quickly awoke to see the world blurred around her. "Aah. What's going on!" Ruby screamed as she awakened, bolting out of her bed. Ruby, panting, saw both Weiss and Blake looking at her wide-eyed with looks of both confusion and curiosity. "Weiss... What happened?" Ruby asked her partner confusedly, cocking her head to the side.

"I think you were having you were having a nightmare." Weiss answered, still holding her look of confusion.

"Oh... I uh... I'm sorry for putting you through the trouble of waking me again, Weiss." Ruby apologized to her white-haired teammate, who shrugged.

It's no problem. It's what friends are for." Weiss responded calmly, before sitting down.

"Uuh. I'm booooored." Ruby said, causing the monochrome pair to groan.

* * *

><p>Yang walked out tthrough the courtyard, towards to landing pad, watching an airship come in to dock. It wasn't a large, high-amount transport airship. It was more of a small, three-or-so people ship. And out of it stepped York and North.<p>

"God, when they called this place _'The Shining Beacon' _they really weren't joking." York commented as he exited the craft, North a couple of paces behind him. North said nothing in response, but pointed at Yang. "Oh yeah, good spot! Hey! Hey, uh, hey gauntlet-girl, come 'ere!" York called to Yang, who was looking at then with confusion.

"Uh... Sure!" Yang replied, and jogged over to the two. When she reached them, she realized it was the first time she had seen them without their helmets. She didn't know what she'd been expecting, maybe something a little less human. "So. What'd you need... Uh... What's your name?" Yang asked them, and York stuvck out his armored hand.

"I'm York, and that's North. Good to meet ya'." He said, before Yang shook his hand.

"I'm Yang Xiao Long. And, as I said, what'd you need?" Yang replied, asking her question again.

"Well... We wanted to know if you knew a good weaponsmith." York asked the blonde, her grinned at them.

"Oh, you have no idea." Yang answered, before turning around and gesturing for them to follow.

* * *

><p><strong>Stinger's Notes:<strong>

**Begin Act Two, where the Freelancers gain their own RWBYverse weapons. I don't know what they'll be yet, so ya' know. Anyways, I've started to get more time to write these again, so I'll be able to, hopefully, post these more often. But, as always, remember that constructive criticism is always useful!**

**Stinger Out!**


	18. Epilogue Chapter 2

**Remnant's Freelancers:**

* * *

><p>Yang headed back towards Beacon, York and North following behind her. North looked around, taking in the sights at or behold before him. The glowing green light that shone out of Beacon Tower giving the landscape a hint of green light.<p>

"Where do you think she's taking us?" North asked his fellow Freelancer, who shrugged in response.

"No clue." He replied bluntly to the other Freelancer. After a minute-or-so of following her, they reached the RWBY dorm, with a clear label saying _'Team RWBY' _on the front of the door. "Wonder what that means?" York asked himself silently, as Yang pushed open the door to the room.

"Yang?" Ruby questioned as she saw her sister stroll into the room. "Uh... North?" Ruby asked confusedly, as she then saw two of the five Freelancers enter the room.

"Ruby, Blake, and Weiss. I believe these two guys have something to ask us." Yang said, motioning to York and North. York cleared his throat to, once again, ask his question.

"Do any of you, happen to know a good weaponsmith?" York asked the trio, and Ruby's eyes lit up with glee.

* * *

><p>"Oh, this is so cool! I can make more weapons!" Ruby cried out happily on the airship. Joining her on said airship were: Her older sister Yang; Her partner Weiss; Her friend and teammate Blake; Carolina, Eta and Iota; North and Theta; York and Delta; Wash and Epsilon; and South. Weiss sighed at Ruby's overly-joyfulness at the situation.<p>

"Ruby, you do realize you could make more weapons back at _Beacon_, do you not." Weiss huffed at her team leader, who took no notice to her wite-haired partner.

"Puh-lease princess. Beacon's forges are but a speck of dust compared to Uncle Qrow's." Yang told Weiss, who raised an eyebrow at the brawler.

"You're telling me, that one of the best Huntsman Academies _on Remnant_'s forges are worse than _your uncle's_?" Weiss replied, earning a snort from Yang.

"Well of course, what would you expect from Signal's very own headmaster?" Yang answered cocockilt, her hands on her hips.

"Well this is awkward." Wash whispered to the other four Freelancers. York glanced over to him.

"Your telling me. You weren't there to see her reaction." York replied, thinking back to Ruby's response to his question.

_**Flashback Starts**_

_"Do any of you happen to know a good weaponsmith?" He asked them, only to see the red-clad's eyes light up. Ruby fell backwards, landing flat on her back, only for the other five to look at her curiously._

_"**YEEEES!**" She screamed as she shot back up to her feet, and she hugged the tan-armored Freelancer. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" She exclaimed as she threw herself at him, and then away from him. "This is perfect! **TO SIGNAL!**" She shouted before disappearing in a cloud of rose petals._

_"Uh... What. In the name. Of living fuck. Was that?" York questioned the remaing three members, dumbstruck, two of them, Weiss and Blake, shrugged, and the other, Yang, just grinned._

**_Flashback Ends_**

"God. Sounds like she had a level seven nuclear meltdown." Wash replied jokingly, looking at Ruby and her team. Ruby was rambling away to herself about weapons designs, Blake was, pretty obviously, reading a book, and Yang and Weiss were still arguing over forges. Ruby then pulled as A5 sized notebook out of her bag, and opened a blank page, and followed this by pulling a pencil out of her pocket.

"Ooh. It could slot into their armor!" Ruby muttered to herself excitedly, not noticing Wash standing behind her, looking over her shoulder, into the notebook. He saw the page before was filled to the brim with drawings of weapons.

"Yang told me us were slightly crazy over weapons. But I didn't think you'd gone this far." Wash commented, causing the red-clad girl to jump with surprise, and turn around to see the Freelancer standing behind her.

"Oh. Uh... Yeah, I... Uh, really like them, ya' know." Ruby replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head nervously.

"So I've noticed." Wash said, taking a seat next to her. The Freelancer still towered over the scarlet-haired girl by a good foot and a half, and it didn't help by the fact she was small for her age already. "So. What you got designed for us?" Wash questioned, and she just flailed her arms in the air. _'The fuck was that movement?' _Epsilon questioned mentally. "Shut up, Epsilon." Wash commanded the AI out loud, causing Ruby to give him a strange look.

"Epsilon? Who's that?" She asked Wash confusedly, cocking her head to the side. _'Oh, you've done it now.' _Epsilon remarked angrily in Wash's head, causing Wash to growl.

"OK, one Epsilon, I haven't _'done it'_, and two, just shut up." Wash replied, as angrily as Epsilon. Ruby still looked confused, and Epsilon sighed. _'You do realize you were speaking aloud, right?' _The memory fragment informed Wash, who's eyes widened under his helmet. "Oh I have so done it." Wash muttered under his breath, before sighing. Ruby's head was still cocked to the side, her eyes full of curiosity. "Epsilon." Wash sighed again. "Please come out." Wash ordered his A, who, extremely slowly, appeared next to his head.

"Uh... Hi there." He greeted Ruby, who's eyed lit up. Her jaw dropped, and she stared at the hologram next Wash's helmet.

"OoohIt'sSoCuteIJustWannaHugIt!" Ruby blurted out, and jumped at the AI, her arms wide.

"Hey, I'm not cu- No wait! I'm a-" Epsilon said, before Ruby fell through him. He sighed before continuing. "I'm a hologram." He informed the red-clad, huntress-to-be who was pushing herself off of the floor. "And for your information, I'm not cute." Epsilon huffed, crossing his _'arms'_.

"Wait. I can... You're not... I can walk _through _you!" Ruby exclaimed joyfully, before stopping and looking at him curiously. "But, you're not on a screen..." She said slowly, confusion written over her face.

"He's a hologram. A 3D image of... Well, anything he wants." Wash told her, and she nodded.

"You mean like a dust-mirage." Ruby said with realization, Wash, however, had no idea what a _'dust-mirage' _was.

"Yeah, sure. A dust-mirage." He replied unsurely. He looked back at her weapons book, seeing all of the crazy weapons she had designed drawn on the pages. "Is anything on there ours?" Wash asked her, and she shook her head.

"I can't really design anything for you guys yet. I need to know your fighting styles to be able to do that." Ruby answered his question with a sigh of defeat.

"Why so sad?" He questioned her, and Ruby sighed again.

"Well... I love designing weapons, as you can probably see." She said, flicking through the few hundred full pages of her notebook. "But I only design them for me and my friends. People I know the fighting style of... Ya' know?" She told him, showing him pages full of swords, spears and gauntlets.

"I don't see any designs resembling your beast of a weapon." He replied, and Ruby smirked as she threw open the notebook's final few pages, revealing a dozen-or-so designs of scythes. "I stand corrected." He said as he looked at the scythe designs. "You really are good at this." He complimented her and her designs, causing Ruby to chuckle.

"Me? Nah. Wait 'till you see my Uncle Qrow's designs." Ruby chuckled, puttingbher notebook away.

"Why'd you get that out just to put it away?" Wash asked her, confused. Ruby smirked at him once more, and then the smirk turned to a large smile.

"Oh, you know, for reference and stuff." Ruby replied, before feeling the airship slow down. "Oh! We're here!" She squeaked happily as she raced for the airship's exit.

* * *

><p>"Come on Yang! Come on!" Ruby exclaimed as she flew ahead, her teammates and the Freelancers a few hundred feet behind her.<p>

"Ruby! Slow down!" Weiss called out to her leader, who took no notice to the advice, and tripped over a tree root. The red-clad girl let out an _'oof'_ before shooting back up to see her sister laughing and pointing at her.

"Should'a listened to the Ice Queen, sis." Yang joked as they caught up to her overly-energetic sister, who was brushing dirt off herself.

"Yaaang." Ruby whined as her fireball-sister ruffled her hair.

"Come on now Ruby, wouldn't wanna be late to good ol' Qrow's." Yang said as she dragged her sister onward.

"Yang, wait! You're taking us the wrong way." Ruby told her sister, who chuckled in response.

"Don't be silly sis. I'm taking the shortcut!" Yang replied calmly, letting go of Ruby's arm.

"But you said not to go this way because it's full of Grimm." Ruby argued with her, but only received a shrug.

"But at the time we didn't have kickass weapons." Yang answered, cocking Ember Celica into place.

"But... But, what if..." Ruby tried to finish her sentence, but couldn't think of a valid argument, and stopped midway through.

"Score one: Yang." Yang joked cheerfully, jogging ahead slowly. A minute-or-so later, Yang had started to slow down, waiting for the rest of the group. "Oh come on guys! Hurry up, we got time to make up! It's a shortcut for a reason ya' know!" Yang called out to her teammates and the Freelancers, who, Ruby included, were a couple of hundred metres behind her.

"Yang! Wait up would you!" Blake shouted at her partner, who stopped instantly.

"Sure thing!" She called back, waving her arms in the air. Yang stood there for a good ten seconds before they caught up to her, and she groaned. "What took you so long, I'm bored now."

"Yang, it took us about half a minute." Blake replied matter-of-factly, sighing into her hand. "Come on, let's go." Blake said, pushing her partner forward.

* * *

><p>"We're here!" Ruby shouted as she ran to the front of a castle that looked like it was eight hundred years old. On the front entrance, in large white letters, it read: <em>'WELCOME TO SIGNAL ACADEMY', <em>which stood out against the bland gray wall.

"This isn't exactly what I expected Signal to look like." Weiss commented as she scanned the building carefully. "But it looks comfortable enough." She finished, walking to the door.

"Wait, that's not how you get in." Ruby informed Weiss, who looked back at her confused.

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked, looking from Ruby to the door, and then from the door back to Ruby.

"That takes you to the training grounds. To get into the Academy, you have to go over the walls." Ruby told the group, all of their eyes widening, a part from Yang's.

"See you guys on the other side!" She shouted, and fired herself over the wall using Ember Celica.

"Come on then!" Ruby exclaimed before joining her sister over the wall.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me." Weiss said as she summoned a glyph under her feet, and propelled herself over the wall. Blake threw Gambol Shroud and joined them, leaving the Freelancers on the other side.

"I think I'll just use Grav-Boots." York said warily, enabling his Grav-Boots and walking up the wall. "You guys comin'?" He asked them as he was halfway up, stopping to look down at them, and they all nodded. "Good. So hurry up!" He said before disappearing over the other side.

"I guess we follow him then." Wash said, seeing the others running towards the wall. "Yep, guess we do!" He shouted, before he ran after them.

* * *

><p><strong>And scene. So, that was interesting to write. Anyways, don't really know what to write here, so remember to give anyone the always-useful constructive criticism, and... I don't know.<strong>

**Stinger out!**


	19. Epilogue Chapter 3

**Remnant's Freelancers:**

* * *

><p>After a few seconds of Grav-Boot climbing, the Freelancers were up and over the wall, and now in a large, beautifully kept garden.<p>

"OK. This is much better than I expected." Weiss said, taking in the scenery of Signal Academy. Ruby just squeaked with delight.

"Oh it's just _so_ beautiful in the summer!" She squealed as she ran around the inner-grounds.

"Calm down Ruby. It's only been a semester since you were last here." Yang said, placing a calming hand on her sister's shoulder. This didn't faze the red-clad teen, however.

"I know, but it feels like forever." She said merrily, jumping up and down. Blake sighed, shaking her head as she placed it into her right hand.

"I thought we were here for the forges, not just to stand and admire the scenery." Blake spoke up, causing Ruby to nod enthusiastically.

"Yeah! Come on, let's go!" She exclaimed beforedisappearing in a shower of rose petals. Weiss sighed, and looked over to Yang.

"I hope you know where the forges are." She told the blonde, who grinned.

"Of course I do princess, follow me guys." She replied cheerfully, and walked towards the main building.

* * *

><p>The group walked inside of the main building, only to see a long corridor with a few dozen doorways. Yang stopped, looking at the corridor with a blank expression.<p>

"Eighth down and to the left... Or was it the ninth?" She muttered to herself, before starting to stroll down the corridor.

"You do know where we're going, right Yang?" Weiss asked the brawler, who nodded confidently.

"Yeah, eight down and to the left... I think..." Yang replied semi-confidently now, and she pushed open a door too see Ruby swarmed by, what looked like, younger members of Signal.

"Isaac, I said we'll wait for the- Oh, there they are." Ruby said to the large bunch of children around her, pointing at her teammates and the Freelancers. The childrens' heads turned, and they instantly rushed over to the others.

"What is it like at Beacon!" "Is Ruby still really clumsy!" "How are teams formed!" "What do you have to do to get in!" The children questioned them, bombarding them with noise. Yang pouted at her sister, who shrugged.

"Had to get them off me somehow." Ruby informed Yang, who glared at her sister in return. "Hey, there's no need to clamber all over them." Ruby said, pushing them off of her teammates. One of them opened their mouth to speak, but Ruby instantly closed it with her hand, giving them a firm _'shh'_.

"I've never seen Ruby this bossy before." Blake whispered to Yang, who shrugged.

"I wouldn't call it bossy, it's more like _commanding_. She used to help Uncle Qrow or Dad with either of their classes when she had a free period." Yang replied, watching her sister carefully.

"I bet you guys are wondering who _they _are, right?" Ruby asked the children, who all nodded. "Those three," Ruby said, gesturing to Weiss, Blake and Yang. "Are my teammates. We form, Team RWBY." She told them, earning sniggered from a few. "The white-wearing one is Weiss. She's my partner, and she uses a Multi-Action Dust Rapier, called Myrtenaster. Do you mind giving them a demonstration, Weiss?" Ruby informed the students, and she made a hand-motion towards the training dummies. Weiss nodded, and drew Myrtenaster, and many of their mouths dropped. Weiss then showed them the basics of her weapon on the dummies, and shortly after, she sheathed Myrtenaster.

"What kinds of dust does it use, Ruby?" One of the children asked, and Ruby looked at Weiss.

"Myrtenaster uses Burn Dust, Freeze Dust, Static Dust, Gravity Dust, Momentum Dust and finally, Haste Dust." Weiss told the students, who were still gawping after she had finished demonstration.

"Next up is Blake. She's pretty stealthy, she'd get ya' if you weren't looking. Well, she would if she wasn't reading a book most of the time." Ruby said, making the children giggle, but she received a glare from Blake. "You, uh... Mind showing your weapon?" Ruby asked carefully, and Blake nodded slowly.

"Sure." She replied bluntly, unsheathing her weapon, Gambol Shroud. "This is Gambol Shroud." She told them, presenting both her weapon, and its sheathe. "It's a Variant Ballistic Chain Scythe, and, other than that, it's pretty average." She finished, and she started to walk away, but when she reached the others, they, namely Yang, pushed her back.

"You need to show therm how you use it." Yang said, winking at her partner, who sighed, before she turned back around.

"Alright." Ruby said quietly. "Be very quiet, and watch _carefully_." Ruby told them, and they then stared intently at Blake. The faunus-girl stood a good ten metres or so from the dummies, bring out Gambol Shroud again. The children looked at her, confused, as she stood still with her sword in hand. The Blade sprung back, and she threw her weapon at the target, her ribbon tied to her arm. The children watched as the weapon soared past the targets, and began to look away, but Ruby turned them back. "Wait for it." She said, and at that moment, Blake pulled back on the ribbon, and he weapon turned around, bring itself back on the target, and embedding itself into the head. The impact then knocked the target over, and Blake walked calmly forwards yo collect her weapon, leaving the children's mouths hanging wider than when they had watched Weiss attack the dummies.

"Looks like you really wowed them Blake." Yang informed the blake-haired girl, who shrugged.

"And you all know Yang." Ruby said pointing at her sister.

"Yeah!" They all cheered. "Show us the gauntlets!" One of them cried out, and Yang chuckled.

"You want too see 'em. Well, I show you them then." Yang said, bounding over to the group merrily, readying Ember Celica. "These are my babies. They come before _anything _else. Well, except my friends, Ruby, Weiss and Blake over there, aaaaand my..." She said, not finishing her sentence, and putting her hand next to her ear.

"Your hair!" They said joyfully, and Yang nodded with just as much enthusiasm. Behind the monochrome pair, the five Freelancers were waiting for Ruby to start what they had come here for in the first place.

"Ruby! Come on, we've got things to do!" York called out to her, and she shot up.

"Right. Do you know where Professor Qrow is?" Ruby asked them, and a young boy with mahogany-red hair stuck his hand up slowly.

"I-I think I saw him in his office." He told Ruby, who nodded before disappearing out of the room.

"Again." Weiss huffed as they left the room. "I think Ruby should have realized by now that we haven't been here before." Weiss said to the blonde member of her team, who nodded.

"Yeah. You would think that. But she's Ruby, so she's probably too excited to remember much." Yang replied, walking away from the forges.

"Can anyone explain to me why we're leaving the forges now?" Wash asked, but only got silence in response. "No? OK then." He said, walking down the corridor.

* * *

><p>Ruby stopped at the sight of the headmaster's office, Qrow's office. She pushed open the door, to see her Uncle staring out of the window, his hands joint behind his back.<p>

"Hey Uncle Qrow." Ruby called to him, causing the man to shoot at look behind him.

"Rubes? What're you doing here?" Qrow asked her, his black-going-gray hair cut short.

"You didn't know we were coming?" She replied, confused, and her looked back at her with the same confusion.

"Uh... No, I did not." He answered, scratching the back of his head.

"I sent you a message by Scroll." Ruby informed him, and the aging man pulled out his Scroll.

"Ah. Oh yes." He muttered as he read her message. "And by we, I guess you meant your team?" He questioned, and she sighed.

"Uh... Not just them." She said nervously.

* * *

><p>Yang knocked on the door, causing most of the narrow wooden corridor to vibrate. Weiss then glared at her blonde teammate.<p>

"Yang, couldn't you be a little _gentler_?" Weiss growled at Yang, who shrugged. The door then swund open, revealing Ruby and Qrow standing at the door. Ruby sighed as Qrow's jaw dropped when he saw the Freelancers behind Yang and the other two members of Team RWBY.

"Yang Xiao Long, what did you do this time to have to be escorted here by the _Special Forces_?" Qrow questioned his blonde niece angrily.

"Uh... I don't think you understand Qrow." Yang replied nervously, leaning back from her uncle.

"And what would that mean?" He asked her, and she looked over her shoulder nervously. Behind her, York looked from Yang to Qrow, and then from Qrow to Yang, and then back to Qrow again before speaking up.

"Uh... We aren't the Special Forces." York informed the black-haired headmaster, who's gaze then turned to him.

"Then who are you, and why are you following my nieces?" He demanded from the tan-armored Freelancer, who stood his ground with the tall man.

"You do _not _watch the news, do ya' Qrow." Yang questioned exasperatedly, sighing. Qrow then turned back to his niece.

"Hey, I read a newspaper. That counts." He said defensively, crossing his arms. This caused Yang to sigh again, shaking her head.

"They," Yang said, pointing at the Freelancers. "Are the Heroes of Bluelyn. They saved, what, eleven children from kidnappings." She informed him, and she chuckled when she saw his jaw drop. "Yeah. And they're our friends." She finished smugly, her hand on her hip.

"OK... But that still doesn't explain why you're following my nieces." He replied, looking at the five Freelancers intently.

"Uh... We were running low on ammo for our weapons." Wash said pulling out his Battle Rifle, BR55. Qrow dashed over to Wash, and grabbed the weapon out of his hands. "Wha- Hey!" Wash exclaimed surprisedly, trying to regain his rifle.

"This... What type of weapon is this?" Qrow asked the steel-armored Freelancer curiously, scanning the weapon.

"Type? It's a BR55 Battle Rifle. It's standard issue." Wash told him, only receiving a strange look from Qrow and Team RWBY.

"I though you said you _weren't _Special Forces?" Qrow questioned, still looking over the weapon.

"We're not." York replied, watching Qrow carefully look at the BR55, his face holding a look of intrigue.

"Yeah yeah, sure. But anyways, what ammo does this use?" Qrow said, handing the weapon back to Wash.

"Ammo? 9.5mm by 40mm high-powered semi-armor piercing rounds." Wash replied confidently, only to find Qrow had a confused look on his face.

"Uh... OK... Ruby, are these people fine in the head." Qrow asked his younger niece quietly, but he only earned a shrug.

"We're here to forge them new weapons. Well, I am." Ruby replied, walking back out of his office. "Oh right! To the forges!" She exclaimed before disappearing.

"God damn it." York muttered under his breath. "So, we came here why?" York asked Yang, who pointed to Qrow.

"We need him." Yang replied, and York just sighed.

"Sometimes. I really, really wish that blast had killed us." York muttered again, before following Yang and her Uncle back down the corridor.

* * *

><p>Ruby sat at the end, waiting for her teammates and friends to catch up with her. She pulled out Crescent Rose, keeping it in storage form, twirling it in her hand. After a few tedious minutes, they caught up to her, and she shot to her feet.<p>

"Come on guys, to the firing range." She said, about to run off with her semblance, which she did, but she then felt herself being choked by her hood. "Ow ow, ow." She squeaked ass she was dragged back.

"Not so fast lil' sis. You gotta slow down for us." Yang told her sister, who pouted at her.

"Yeah. From what I hear, you've been rushing around the place." Qrow said, agreeing with the blonde brawler.

"Aaw... You're so boring." Ruby whined, but only received a glare from Weiss.

"Just don't use your semblance you dolt. Yang been getting us lost the entire time." Weiss informed Ruby, and then glaring at Yang.

"Wha-What! I have not!" Yang exclaimed, glaring back at the heiress.

"Come on, let's go." Blake said, and walked towards the firing range. The Freelancers and Qrow followed her, leaving RWY of RWBY behind.

"Uh... Yeah, let's go." Ruby told the other two, who nodded. "Race you!" She shouted, dusappearting in a flurry of petals.

"Hey! No fair!" Yang called outto her, and both her and Weiss dashed after her.

* * *

><p><strong>Heyo! So, a few notices. The different types of dust I have come up with so far are: Burn Dust (Bright Red in colour); Freeze Dust (LightSky Blue in colour); Static Dust (Bright Blue in colour); Stone/Earth Dust (Brown in colour); Water Dust (Deep Blue in colour); Gravity Dust (Purple in colour); Momentum Dust (White in colour); Void Dust (Black in colour); And finally Haste Dust (Yellow in colour). The four natural/mined dusts are Burn, Freeze, Water, and Stone/Earth dust. All other dusts are created by mixing powder forms of dust. (I do need ideas on how which dusts will be made from which.) Also, I need help on what the Freelancers weapons should be. I've got Wash's down, and North's has to be a sniper of some sort, but that's pretty much it. **

**Remember that constructive criticism is always useful!**

**Stinger out!**


	20. Epilogue Chapter 4

**Remnant's Freelancers:**

* * *

><p>When Yang and Weiss caught up with the rest of the group, they saw that the Freelancers were already firing at the training dummies, spending most of the ammo they had brought with them. York and North, however, were also using their semblances, with the revelation of North's surprising the Freelancers other than Wash. After they had finished, Ruby was grinning to herself as she pulled out her weapons notebook and pencil, preparing to draw the new designs. She giggled to herself as she pranced forwards, with her team, Qrow, and the Freelancers following her. Yang watched her sister as they headed towards the storage room, where they would gather the materials to forge the weapons.<p>

"Are you sure she can design six or seven different weapons in a few minutes?" Weiss questioned the blonde, who nodded.

"Yep. I'm sure she can." Yang replied calmly, her face not changing. "You just gotta have faith Weiss." She spoke again, her voice now sounding merry and full of cheerfulness. Yang then ran after her sister, who was strolling ahead of them, muttering inaudibly to herself. "Hey sis!" Yang exclaimed when she reached the red-clad girl, who jumped a little and looked up at Yang.

"Oh hey Yang." The younger girl replied, nearly dropping her notebook.

"What you got for 'em sis?" Yang enquired, looking over her sister's shoulder, at the pages in the notebook.

"Uh... I got a sword with three dust compartments, which then uses one of the dusts to infuse the blade temporarily, it also turns into an assault rifle which fires rounds filled with either Burn, Freeze or Static Dust, as they're the easiest to protect the metals against." Ruby said, flicking to the page with the image. "Oh." Ruby exclaimed, turning the page. "I've got this for North. It's a bullpup sniper rifle, that's also a... Um... A tonfa, yeah. It's small, so it's also maneuverable, and it also fits his semblance. He can generate objects made of solid aura, so he can make a shield, similar to Pyrhha's, and then use it to get a steady line of sight on his target." The red-clad girl informed her sister proudly. Yang smiled at her, patting her shoulder.

"Hmm. Yeah, I like it." A voice said from behind them, and Ruby jumped into Yang's arms for the first time since she had been startled by Weiss at Ozpin's welcome speech. "Easy there." North says, and Ruby dropped from her sister's arms.

"Hey North." She said happily, her joy returning almost instantly from the fear she had shown a few seconds before. "You like it?" She then asked nervously, causing Yang to shake her head.

"He did say that Ruby." Yang told her, and Ruby stared into the distance for a couple of seconds before returning to reality.

"Oh yeah." She said, closing her notebook.

"So, there's no fancy _'dust compartments'_ on mine then?" He asks her, and she nods. "Why's that?" He questions her, and she sighs.

"It's because sniper rifles are already pretty complex to make, and adding dust compartments just makes it harder, so I decided to keep it simple, and have it as a Stock weapon, which only has one form." Ruby explained to him. North nodded, following what the weapons-crazy girl was telling him. "But it has a barrel that slides out of the tonfa, giving you longer range." She finishes proudly, and he chuckles.

"That sounds great. Well, I better let you get on, bye Ruby." He says, waving her goodbye, and she smiles as she does the same.

* * *

><p>It takes them a few minutes to finally reach the forges again, and they find it now empty.<p>

"No kids here this time, thank lord." South says, looking around the room, and North glares at her. "What?" South then questions when she saw his look, and York chuckles quietly.

"Let's just get on with it, people." Carolina interrupted, and headed over to the forges. She was then followed by the rest of the group, and they stood by the forges. Unknown to Yang and the Freelancers, and intense heat was being blasted out from the furnace. Yang didn't feel it due to her fiery semblance, and the Freelancers because of their armor, but Qrow and the RWB of Team RWBY started to sweat immediately. Yang chuckled lightly when she saw her sister wipe her brow with her sleeve.

"Wow Rubes, I thought you'd be used to it by now." Yang said, pointing at her younger sister jokingly, but only earned a glare from the red-clad girl.

"Says the person with a _fire _semblance." She retorted, holding her glare at her older sister. Yang shrugged, placing her hands on the side of the forge.

"Yeah yeah, whatever Rubes." Yang replied coolly, now leaning on the forge. Weiss watched wide-eyed as Yang leant dangerously close to the edge of the forge.

"Are you sure you want to be that close to the edge Yang?" Blake questioned, stealing the words from Weiss' mouth. Yang looked down at her arms, and stood up.

"I'd have been fine." Yang joked, shrugging off how she had almost fallen into a forge.

"Yang, you were about to fall in." Weiss commented, and Yang, once again, shrugged it off.

"Like I said, I'd have been fine." She replied, Weiss raised an eyebrow to that answer, looking at the blonde with doubt.

"Can we stop with the faces and get on with it." South groaned, bringingba hand to her face.

"Sure." Ruby cried cheerfully, picking up the box Qrow had placed next to her. She walked over to the forge nearest to the back of the room, carrying the large box over there slowly. She opened the lid when she reached there, and the box was revealed to be full of different types of metals and alloys and dusts. Ruby pulled out a large piece of steel, throwing it into the forge.

* * *

><p>It took Ruby a few minutes to finally finish throwing all of the materials she needed into the forge, and by then the rest of the group, excluding Yang and Qrow, seemed to be getting impatient. Ruby then ran to the other side of the forge, fiddling with the taps on the side. She then darted back to the opening, closing the hatch and then walking to her friends.<p>

"Uh... Ruby, don't you want to make the weapons?" Weiss asked her leader confusedly, and Ruby nodded. "Then why aren't you making them?" Weiss questioned her, and she shrugged.

"It's a forge Weiss, they won't go out of date or something like that." Ruby replied calmly, heading back to the forge. Ruby then pressed a button on one of the taps, and molten metal began to pour out onto a table. Ruby put on gloves that started from her fingers, but extended all the way up to her shoulders.

"What're they for?" South asked, a confused look on her face. Ruby smirked when she heard the question.

"These?" She said, gesturing to her now fully-covered arms. "Are for shaping the metals, they're fire and heatproof, much like all of Yang's clothes." Ruby told them, and all of the Freelancers nodded with understanding. Yang chuckled at the mention of her, but that went completely unnoticed.

* * *

><p>It took Ruby a few minutes before she started pouring metals out into casts, and she dashed over to grab a hammer. Using her semblance to race back so the metal wouldn't overflow and scorch everything around it, she stopped the flow of liquid metal. She watched it as it cooled, forgetting about everyone else watching <em>her<em> as she did. When it was cool enough, she brought the hammer up, and brought it back down again onto the metal, creating a metallic _'boom'_ that emanated around the room.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey! Sorry about the time and shortness, but I'm thinking of writing the rest of this as another fic. So yeah, anyways. I'm going to be writing a different story on FictionPress called Phantom. You know what I'm going to say next. Constructive Criticism is always useful!<strong>

**Stinger out!**


	21. The Most Saddening Moment

**I've never known someone personally who's died. But I feel that the pain can only be as great as the pain I feel now. As I have just seen news released by Burnie and Matt, that the amazing Monty Oum has passed away. They always say life is unfair, and that is true, but to take away such a magnificent individual like Monty is one of the worsts deeds life could have done. If there is a heaven, then that is where he is, and my best wishes go out to his family. He will be missed by many, even those who, like me, had never met him, and now never will. But fate played the cruelest of jokes, taking the one who least deserved to be taken.**

**Monty Oum: 22nd June, 1981 - 1st February, 2015 - Aged 33. He will be missed.**


	22. Sequel Warning

**Hello, this is just a note from me to tell everyone that this story is due a sequel. Yes, a sequel. Anyway, just be ready for it, it may come out soon. So keep an eye out for it!**

**Anyway, remember that Constructive Criticism is always useful, Reviews are welcomed, and keep moving forward!**

**Stinger out!**


	23. Remnant's Freelancers: Restored!

**The sequel to Remnant's Freelancers is now out, and it is called Remnant's Freelancers: Restored. You can find it here s/11269184/1/Remnant-s-Freelancers-Restored**


	24. Remnant's Freelancers: Short Stories!

**Hi there. This is just another note made to mention that I have made a Remnant's Freelancers spinoffy kinda, short story hub thing. Anyway, feel free to check it out!**

**Remember that Constructive Criticism is always useful, Reviews are Welcomed and Keep Moving Forward!**

**Stinger out!**


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